A Pennsylvania woman has been taken into custody following a multi-day search for her foster daughter, which ultimately concluded with the tragic discovery of the child’s body inside the trunk of a vehicle.
Carprice Williams, 36, has been formally charged with murder in connection with the death of 10-year-old Malayshia Alford, according to court records. In addition to the murder charge, the defendant faces several other serious charges, including 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.
According to Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski, who spoke at a press conference on Thursday, Malayshia was last seen alive on October 22 at her residence on the 500 block of North Simpson Street in Philadelphia, where she lived with her foster mother, Williams.
“We believe she remained there until she was removed from the home,” the ADA stated.
The girl was reported missing on October 26. The Philadelphia Police Department described Malayshia, who wears glasses, as having been “last seen wearing a blue uniform polo or button-up shirt, blue skirt, blue pullover, blue stockings and either Crocs or black sneakers.”
Williams had allegedly informed relatives that Malayshia had been sent to her biological mother’s home. However, family members pointed out that the biological mother did not have visitation rights, and that Malayshia was not present at that location, according to regional CBS affiliate KYW.
In the course of their investigation, officers reviewed surveillance footage that depicted “what we believe to be her body being moved out of the home” inside a bag. The footage also captured a vehicle and “a person that [investigators] wanted to speak to related to that vehicle.”
As the search continued, Williams and an unidentified man were allegedly observed in footage captured by NBC affiliate WCAU, walking away from the residence. Williams appeared to be attempting to conceal her face, while the man was seen carrying multiple items. This occurred prior to any public announcement naming Williams or anyone else as a suspect.
Police detectives, working alongside the FBI, interviewed the unidentified individual seen in the video and were subsequently directed to a location in New Jersey, where the vehicle was located. Malayshia’s body was discovered inside the trunk of that vehicle.
“It was immediately apparent that she had been there for a while,” Toczylowski stated. The child’s remains were transported to the county medical examiner’s office, where a preliminary postmortem examination determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma. The manner of death was officially ruled a homicide.
Toczylowski further noted that 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 of abuse.
Williams was subsequently arrested and scheduled for a preliminary arraignment. She is set to appear in court on November 23 for a preliminary hearing.
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