A Henderson mother starved her 14-month-old daughter to death, prosecutors alleged this week.
Prosecutors announced Wednesday that grand jurors had indicted Alivia Bree Thrift, 26, on a count of murder and a count of child abuse, neglect or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Brianna Lamanna said at an indictment return hearing that Thrift previously faced only a child abuse charge.
Prosecutors had believed it was a case of negligent treatment or maltreatment and that the mother may not have known of the child’s medical conditions.
But she said that her office had since received an autopsy report and a doctor testified to grand jurors “that this is a clear case of ongoing starvation that happened to this child, to the point where her body was breaking down.”
Prosecutors now believe they can show that the defendant intentionally starved the baby to death, she said.
An indictment identified the child by the initials “E.T.” and said Thrift killed her between Jan. 2025 and March 2026.
The Clark County coroner’s office said the girl’s name was Evangelina Thrift and ruled her death a homicide by starvation. Coroner’s records said she died March 24.
“She was 14 months old at the time of her death and she was nine pounds, which, as your honor is probably aware, is the size of a zero to three-month-old, typically,” Lamanna told Chief District Judge Tierra Jones. “You could see her bones, her face was caved in and her body, including her heart and several of her organs, had showed the ongoing starvation that had happened of this child.”
Lamanna said family members tried to encourage the child’s mother to get the girl medical treatment, but she refused to go to a doctor.
The prosecutor asked for Thrift to be held without bail, and Jones agreed to issue a no bail warrant.
Thrift, who is in custody at the Clark County Detention Center, declined an interview request through the Metropolitan Police Department.
It was not clear who Thrift’s attorney would be. Some public defenders who previously represented her in Henderson Justice Court hearings did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Chief Deputy Public Defender Alison Coombs said her office was only conditionally appointed to represent Thrift at her initial appearance March 25.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
