Grand jury testimony traces escalating concern over 14-month-old Evangelina Thrift before a relative found her unresponsive in March.
HENDERSON, Nev. — In the hours before 14-month-old Evangelina Thrift was found dead, her mother’s half-sister said she repeatedly pushed for the child to be taken to a hospital, culminating in an early-morning visit and a 911 call that would begin a homicide investigation.
The account from Robin Yager provides one of the clearest public timelines of the final hours of Evangelina’s life. Yager told a Clark County grand jury that her half-sister, Alivia Bree Thrift, had been reluctant to seek medical care even as concern over the toddler increased. When Yager reached the Henderson apartment in the early hours of March 24, she said Thrift would not let her inside and instead brought Evangelina outside. Yager testified that the child’s appearance convinced her she had already died. Emergency responders arrived after a call around 3:30 a.m., but police said Evangelina was beyond help.
What investigators later found inside the apartment expanded the case beyond the events of that night. Police described the residence as unsanitary, cluttered with trash bags, empty boxes and plastic bottles. Investigators reported insects in the home and dried vomit on a crib, bassinet and car seat. Evangelina had insect bites and skin injuries, according to testimony and police records reported by news organizations. Those conditions became evidence in a child-neglect case, but they did not yet answer the larger question of why the girl died. That answer, authorities say, came later from the Clark County medical examiner.
An autopsy concluded that Evangelina died from starvation and classified the death as a homicide. Medical examiner Nathan Shaller testified before grand jurors that the toddler’s organs showed severe malnutrition and dehydration. Her body weighed about 9 pounds at 14 months old. Testimony indicated she had been born at roughly 5 pounds and gained only about 4 pounds over the course of her life. Prosecutors said the physical findings demonstrated a lengthy nutritional deficit rather than a brief illness immediately before death. The conclusions prompted authorities to pursue a murder charge against Thrift in addition to the neglect-related accusation already filed.
The medical evidence also sharpened the significance of conversations Yager said she had with Thrift before March 24. According to Yager, Evangelina often spit up formula and sometimes remained in wet clothing afterward. Yager said she suggested that a problem with the formula, including a possible intolerance or allergy, might explain the repeated vomiting and urged her half-sister to make changes and seek medical attention. Thrift allegedly declined. The reported testimony does not establish that Evangelina actually had a milk allergy, and no such diagnosis has been publicly confirmed. The importance of the testimony for prosecutors is that relatives say they were raising concerns about the child’s feeding and size.
Yager told the grand jury those concerns intensified as Evangelina’s condition appeared to worsen. The night before the child’s death, she said she tried to persuade Thrift to call 911 or go to a hospital. According to testimony reported from the proceeding, Thrift expressed fear that authorities might take the girl away because she was so small. Yager said she tried to reassure her that seeking care would not itself justify removing the child. Prosecutors are expected to use such testimony to support their allegation that Thrift was aware of a serious problem and nevertheless failed to obtain care. Thrift has pleaded not guilty, and the defense has not yet presented evidence to a trial jury.
Authorities also have to address an issue that was initially part of their own investigation: whether an unrecognized medical condition could have contributed to Evangelina’s failure to gain weight. Public reporting on the grand jury testimony indicates the child did not have a regular medical history available for investigators to review. The medical examiner therefore could not rely on an established record of diagnoses or treatment to explain her growth. Prosecutors say the autopsy nevertheless showed the physiological effects of starvation clearly enough to establish the cause of death. Whether the defense challenges that conclusion, or offers another explanation for the child’s condition, is not yet known.
The physical state of Evangelina’s skin provided another window into what authorities allege were prolonged conditions of neglect. Shaller testified that some sores were consistent with repeated exposure to bodily waste, vomit or spoiled milk, substances that can irritate and injure skin during prolonged contact. Investigators also documented insect activity in the apartment and bites on the girl’s body. The descriptions are disturbing, but prosecutors have presented them not simply as images of a disordered home. They argue the injuries support the allegation that Evangelina spent extended periods without adequate hygiene, supervision and medical intervention while her health deteriorated.
The case did not immediately become a murder prosecution when police responded on March 24. Thrift was first charged with child abuse, neglect or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm. The investigation continued while authorities awaited medical findings. By July, prosecutors presented the evidence to a Clark County grand jury. The grand jury returned an indictment that included murder. At a later court hearing, Deputy District Attorney Brianna Lamanna said the autopsy had changed how the case was understood, moving prosecutors away from an early possibility that the death resulted from neglect or a caregiver’s failure to recognize a medical problem.
That shift means the trial will involve more than proving that conditions in the apartment were unsafe. A murder conviction requires prosecutors to prove the charged homicide offense under Nevada law and establish the necessary state of mind. The state has said it believes the evidence supports intentional deprivation of food over a prolonged period. The defense is entitled to contest that characterization and challenge the prosecution’s interpretation of the medical evidence and witness testimony. A grand jury’s decision to indict does not resolve those disputes; it allows the criminal case to proceed to trial.
Thrift, 26, entered a not-guilty plea at her post-indictment arraignment in July and remains held without bail. She waived a speedy trial, and court proceedings have been scheduled into 2027. A trial readiness hearing is set for Oct. 22 and the jury trial is scheduled for March. Those dates leave months for prosecutors and defense attorneys to litigate evidence, prepare witnesses and address any pretrial motions. No public trial testimony has yet established Thrift’s guilt, and the allegations remain unproven unless accepted by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt.
Yager has also publicly pushed back against suggestions that she watched her niece deteriorate without intervening. In a statement reported after the grand jury proceedings, she said the last time she had seen Evangelina before the night of the death was around the child’s January birthday and rejected claims that she had observed a continuous decline. That distinction could matter as the case develops because much of the public record comes from testimony about separate contacts, phone calls and concerns rather than continuous observation. Her statements nevertheless place family warnings near the center of the prosecution narrative.
The coming trial will ask jurors to reconstruct what happened between those warnings and the 911 call on March 24. Medical evidence will address what starvation did to Evangelina’s body. Witness testimony will address what Thrift allegedly knew and when she knew it. Police evidence will describe the environment in which the toddler lived. Against that record, the defense will have the opportunity to present its own evidence and explanations. For now, Thrift remains accused, not convicted, with her next reported hearing scheduled for Oct. 22.
Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.