Carprice Williams, 36, was ordered held without bail after prosecutors charged her with murdering her 10-year-old foster daughter Malayshia Alford.
Williams, a Philadelphia teacher, was arraigned Thursday on charges including murder, endangering the welfare of a child, tampering with evidence and abuse of corpse. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told reporters she had no prior criminal record. She is scheduled to return to court Nov. 23.
Malayshia’s body was discovered late Wednesday night in Lindenwold, New Jersey, roughly 20 miles from the West Philadelphia home where she had last been seen alive on Oct. 22. Investigators located the remains after a driver, questioned by police, led them across state lines to the site.
The break in the case came from surveillance footage recovered by investigators. The video showed what authorities believe was Malayshia’s body being moved from the home into a vehicle around 2 a.m. On Oct. 26 — the same day Williams reported the girl missing. Williams initially told police that Malayshia had not returned from school and was not answering her phone, but investigators said they found conflicting accounts from adults connected to the case.
“It was immediately apparent that she had been there for a while,” Assistant District Attorney Ashley Teslowski said at a Thursday press conference, referring to the condition of the body when found.
An autopsy conducted by the local medical examiner determined Malayshia’s death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma.
Ameer Barber, an activist with the Philly-based community organization MOTIVATEYOUTH215, described the conditions inside Williams’ home in stark terms after being shown evidence by authorities.
“They showed me the pictures and videos, it was a dungeon. The backdoor was drilled shut, the basement door was drilled shut,” Barber said Philadelphia. “Upstairs, it looked like there was a lot of foul play, I don’t know how the cops didn’t catch it. It didn’t look right.”
Prosecutors indicated the abuse went beyond the killing itself. “We do have an indication that there were instances of abuse happening, and that items were used to carry out that abuse,” Teslowski said. Officials declined to elaborate on what led to the murder or whether additional charges against others were anticipated.
Malayshia was a student at Robert E. Lamberton School, according to district officials. On Thursday night, her friend Zayla attended a community vigil held in her memory.
“She was nice to everybody. She was friends with everybody. And the last time I saw her, I gave her a hug,” the friend told WPVI.
Ryenise Hodges, Zayla’s mother, spoke about the difficulty of explaining the loss to her daughter. Williams had been their child’s teacher.
“Just letting her know everything is going to be OK. She don’t really understand that was her teacher. And she just keeps asking a lot of questions. I don’t even have the answers,” Hodges, of West Philadelphia, told WPVI.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherrelle Parker addressed the killing in a statement posted on social media, framing it both as a mother and as the city’s leader.
“As a mother, this has shaken me to my core. I can’t stop thinking about this precious baby and the heartache and turmoil that her immediate village will endure,” Parker wrote. “Our Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office and the FBI will cross every ‘T’ and dot every ‘I’ to uncover all of the facts associated with this heinous and horrific tragedy, and to seek justice for Malayshia.”
Krasner said his office has contacted the Philadelphia Department of Human Services and expects further conversations with the agency about the case.