Background: The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home where Malayshia Alford was last seen (WTXF/YouTube). Inset top: Malayshia Alford (Philadelphia Police Department). Inset bottom: Carprice Williams before Malayshia’s body was discovered (WCAU/YouTube).
A Pennsylvania foster mother has been arrested after a dayslong search for her 10-year-old foster daughter ended with the girl’s body being found in the trunk of a vehicle.
Carprice Williams, 36, faces a murder charge in the death of Malayshia Alford, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. She is also charged with endangering the welfare of a child, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, abuse of a corpse, recklessly endangering another person and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Malayshia was last seen alive at the home she shared with Williams on the 500 block of North Simpson Street in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski said Thursday during a press conference streamed by local ABC affiliate WPVI.
“We believe she remained there until she was removed from the home,” Toczylowski said.
The child was reported missing on Oct. 26. The Philadelphia Police Department said Malayshia, who wore glasses, “was last seen wearing a blue uniform polo or button-up shirt, blue skirt, blue pullover, blue stockings and either Crocs or black sneakers.”
Williams allegedly told relatives that Malayshia had gone to stay with her biological mother. But family members knew the biological mother did not have visitation rights, and Malayshia was not at her home, regional CBS affiliate KYW reported.
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During the investigation, officers reviewed video that showed “what we believe to be her body being moved out of the home” inside a bag. The footage also showed a vehicle and “a person that [investigators] wanted to speak to related to that vehicle.”
As the search continued, footage captured by area NBC affiliate WCAU allegedly showed Williams and a man leaving the home. Williams appeared to cover her face, while the man carried several items. At that point, neither Williams nor anyone else had been identified publicly as a suspect.
Philadelphia detectives and FBI agents later spoke with the unidentified person seen in the video. That person directed investigators to an area in New Jersey, where police located the vehicle. Malayshia’s body was found inside its trunk.
“It was immediately apparent that she had been there for a while,” Toczylowski said. The girl’s body was taken to the county medical examiner’s office. A preliminary postmortem examination determined that she died from blunt force trauma, and the death was classified as a homicide.
Toczylowski said authorities “have an indication that there were instances of abuse happening and that items were used to carry out that abuse.” District Attorney Larry Krasner added that Malayshia’s body bore bruising and scarring consistent with a pattern, according to Daily Voice.
Williams was arrested and scheduled for a preliminary arraignment on Friday. She is due back in court on Nov. 23 for a preliminary hearing.
The post Foster mother allegedly beat 10-year-old girl to death before telling relatives she had gone to her biological mother: DA first appeared on Law & Crime.