A Pennsylvania teacher accused of murdering her foster daughter and leaving the child’s body in a car trunk had allegedly brought another foster child close to death years earlier, newly surfaced court records show.
Carprice Williams, 34, was charged Thursday in the killing of 10-year-old Jalayshia “Malayshia” Allford, who had been living in Williams’ West Philadelphia home as a foster child since last summer.
The arrest came just hours after the girl’s body was discovered inside a vehicle at a New Jersey apartment complex, ending a 10-day search for the child.
Court documents obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer also describe a troubling history of alleged abuse involving other foster children placed in Williams’ care, including a four-year-old girl and her older sister.
According to the complaint, city and state officials previously recommended that Williams “never be used as a foster parent for other children in the future.”
“We are trying to understand how this could have happened,” Nadeem Bezar, an attorney with Kline & Specter, the firm representing Malayshia’s estate, told The Inquirer.
The earlier allegations were outlined in a 2024 lawsuit filed by Bezar’s firm against Tabor Children’s Services, a social-services agency contracted by Philadelphia. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the young girl.
Bezar confirmed that the sisters were placed with Williams in June 2020 at her home on 547 North Simpson Street, the outlet reported.
Former Philadelphia teacher Carprice Williams, 34, was charged Thursday with murdering 10-year-old Jalayshia “Malayshia” Allford, who had lived in her West Philadelphia home as a foster child since last summer
Officials said Malayshia’s cause of death was believed to be blunt-force trauma and classified the case as a homicide. They added that it was “immediately apparent that she had been there for a while”
Seven months later, in January 2021, Williams brought the four-year-old to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She reportedly told staff that she had heard a loud noise before discovering the child collapsed on an upstairs floor, according to the court filing.
Doctors, however, documented signs of malnutrition, a traumatic brain injury, facial abrasions and marks that appeared consistent with the child having been struck by an object.
A physician later described the incident as a “near fatality,” saying the girl had nearly died from bleeding on the brain. The case prompted investigations by both city and state authorities.
The child later told investigators that Williams had pulled her by her braids and repeatedly slammed her head against the kitchen floor, according to the complaint cited by The Inquirer.
Williams was also accused of striking the girl with a belt and slapping her face until her mouth began to bleed.
The lawsuit further alleged that the child was sometimes forced to hold a squat against a wall for extended periods. Williams also allegedly tried to keep the girl’s older sister quiet so she could not reveal the abuse.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services later substantiated abuse involving both sisters and recommended that Williams never again be approved as a foster parent.
Despite that recommendation, Malayshia was placed in Williams’ home roughly a year after the lawsuit was filed, raising questions about the decisions made by Philadelphia’s child-welfare system.
The arrest followed the discovery of the girl’s body inside a car trunk at a New Jersey apartment complex (pictured), bringing an end to a 10-day search
“If the panel walked away with a recommendation that she should never be a foster parent, it’s hard to understand how she then was a foster parent again,” Cathleen Palm, head of the advocacy organization Center for Children’s Justice, told the outlet.
Malayshia was the only foster child living in Williams’ home, alongside Williams’ four-year-old biological son, a law-enforcement source told The Inquirer on condition of anonymity.
Her placement was arranged by Catholic Community Services, which, like Tabor Children’s Services, had a contract with Philadelphia’s child-welfare agency, according to a state spokesperson.
In an interview Friday, Bezar said DHS had previously determined that Malayshia suffered physical and sexual abuse in another Philadelphia foster home. She was subsequently moved into Williams’ care.
SEE ALSO: Usman Khawaja Reveals Why He Stayed Silent on Sandpapergate
Williams reported Malayshia missing on October 26, saying the girl had not returned home from school. She allegedly gave relatives different explanations about where the child had last been seen.
Williams reportedly told Malayshia’s aunt, Yolanda Brown, that the girl had been taken by her biological mother. Authorities contacted the mother, however, and found no evidence that Malayshia was with her, according to the outlet.
Police soon determined that the child “may be at special risk of harm or injury,” ABC 6 reported. Philadelphia police, FBI agents and community volunteers joined the search, including a sweep of a field near Williams’ home.
Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore later said investigators reviewed surveillance video showing Malayshia returning from school on October 22. She was not seen on that block again, The Inquirer reported.
Williams, a former Philadelphia teacher, had previously been accused of leaving another child in her care near death. Court records say city and state officials recommended that she “never be used as a foster parent for other children in the future”
Police allegedly recovered footage showing a man carrying Malayshia’s body from the back of Williams’ house (pictured) inside a large bag commonly used to store Christmas trees, a law-enforcement source told The Inquirer
Investigators also learned that Malayshia had not attended school in the days afterward. Then, in the early hours of October 26—the same day Williams reported her missing—police obtained video they considered crucial to the case.
The footage allegedly showed a man removing Malayshia’s body from the rear of Williams’ home in a large bag typically used to store Christmas trees, a law-enforcement source told the outlet.
On Thursday, police found the girl’s body in the trunk of a car parked at the Stonington Court Apartments in Lindenwold, New Jersey, approximately 20 miles from her home.
“It was that video that then led law enforcement officials to a suspect vehicle, which then led law enforcement officials to find that vehicle and find a person that they wanted to speak to related to that vehicle,” Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski said during a news conference.
Authorities believe Malayshia died from blunt-force trauma, and her death has been ruled a homicide, officials told CNN.
When the body was discovered, it was “immediately apparent that she had been there for a while,” Toczylowski said.
Williams faces charges including murder, child endangerment, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
A criminal complaint obtained by ABC News alleges that Williams subjected Malayshia to a series of severe punishments before her death. Those alleged acts included throwing the child down stairs, denying her food and water, and making her wear a weighted vest while repeatedly walking up and down the steps.
An attorney said Friday that DHS had previously determined Malayshia (pictured) was physically and sexually abused in another Philadelphia foster home before she was transferred to Williams’ care
After Malayshia died, Williams allegedly tried to create the appearance that the girl was still alive by texting her phone to ask where she was, then replying to the message herself using the child’s device.
Investigators believe Malayshia was removed from the home after she was last captured on surveillance footage and transported in two different vehicles, CNN reported.
“This child is not supposed to be placed in this home. It makes no sense,” Bezar said, according to ABC 7 News.
“How does it happen? It is not supposed to, plain and simple. Based on what the prior certifying agency reported as the reason for closing the home, this is never supposed to happen again,” he added.
Williams also worked as a teacher in the Philadelphia School District, although it remains unclear what grade she taught or whether she was still employed. The district told ABC News and The Inquirer that it does not comment on personnel matters.
Parents of children who had been taught by Williams have since shared their own concerns. Kia Logan told ABC News, “My kids would always tell me how she’d be mean to them.”
Another parent, who was not identified, said Williams had damaged her son’s confidence and that the family was still helping him recover. “I would say she would browbeat him, and I very much had to advocate for him,” the parent said.
City Councilmember Nina Ahmad has called for increased scrutiny of Philadelphia’s network of Community Umbrella Agencies, or CUAs.
Ahmad, who is developing a ballot measure to establish a child-welfare oversight board, told The Inquirer, “We need to look at this whole CUA system and how it’s operating. We need a lot more oversight.”