Vegas mother starved 14-month-old daughter until her face 'caved in' and she died of hunger, prosecutors say

A Nevada mother accused of starving her 14-month-old daughter to death has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Alivia Bree Thrift, 26, entered the plea Thursday after prosecutors alleged she had deliberately deprived her daughter, Evangelina Thrift, of food over an extended period.

The toddler weighed just nine pounds when she died on March 24 – roughly the typical size of a newborn to three-month-old baby, Chief Deputy District Attorney Brianna Lamanna told the court, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Evangelina’s bones were visible and her face appeared ‘caved in,’ while her heart and several other organs showed signs of prolonged starvation, according to prosecutors.

The Clark County coroner ruled her death a homicide caused by starvation.

Thrift, of Henderson, near Las Vegas, was indicted last week on one count of murder and one count of child abuse, neglect or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm.

She told Chief District Judge Tierra Jones that she had read the charges but questioned why they had been brought against her.

‘I understand the meaning of them, but not why they’re applied here,’ Thrift said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Thrift waived her right to a speedy trial and remained jailed without bail.

Prosecutors initially believed Evangelina’s death may have resulted from negligent care or that Thrift might not have understood the child’s medical conditions.

But the investigation shifted after the district attorney’s office received the autopsy report and a doctor testified before the grand jury about the extent of Evangelina’s starvation.

The doctor described ‘a clear case of ongoing starvation’ that had continued until the child’s body began breaking down, Lamanna said at an indictment hearing last week.

Prosecutors now believe they can prove that Thrift intentionally starved her daughter to death.

‘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 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 to this child.’

Family members had urged Thrift to seek medical treatment for Evangelina but she refused to take the toddler to a doctor, Lamanna alleged.

The indictment alleged that Thrift killed her daughter between January 2025 and March 2026.

Thrift had initially faced only a child abuse charge before the grand jury returned the more serious indictment.

Prosecutors asked for Thrift to be held without bail, and Jones issued a no bail warrant. 

Thrift previously declined an interview request from the Review-Journal submitted through the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.