The trial opened Tuesday for a woman accused in the death of her 15-month-old granddaughter.

Pietrina Hoffman, 53, of Mahanoy City, is on trial on third-degree murder and other in the death of Nevaeh Doyle, died on Jan. 10, 2016.

Charged with third-degree murder, Hoffman faces charges of aggravated assault, persons not to possess or use firearms, endangering the welfare of children and two counts of recklessly endangering another person, prohibited offensive weapons and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to court documents, emergency medical crews found Nevaeh dead at 2:20 p.m. Jan. 10 when they arrived in response to a report of pediatric cardiac arrest.

Nevaeh, partially covered with a blanket, was lying on her back on the floor. She appeared to have died hours earlier.

Mahanoy City police officer Thomas Rentschler interviewed Hoffman, who told him she woke at about 2 a.m. to use the bathroom, and returned to a sofa where she had been sleeping with a 2-year-old.

Nevaeh was asleep on the floor because she wouldn't sleep in her portable crib.

Hoffman told Rentschler that when she woke 12 hours later, at 2 p.m., Nevaeh hadn't moved. She called her husband, and then called 911.

Hoffman subsequently gave police varying versions of what had happened, at one point saying she had taken a sleep aid and may have stepped on Nevaeh.

After police arrived, the 2-year-old was given to Schuylkill County Children and Youth Services. The agency arranged for a medical evaluation of the child, which revealed she was in the early stages of starvation.

An autopsy determined that Nevaeh died due to asphyxia by smothering.

Today, the pathologist testified Navarro Doyle died of smothering by asphyxiation, which he determined was caused by an adult falling on and staying on her for at least two minutes.