5 min read
Major Takeaways
Philadelphia prosecutors announced an independent investigation Thursday into the care and death of Malayshia Alford, age 10.
Her foster mother, Carprice Williams, is charged with murder and held without bail as the case moves toward a November 23 hearing.
City leaders are also reviewing the foster care system that placed Malayshia, with a mayoral committee and a Council resolution now in motion.
A week after a 10 year old girl was found dead in the trunk of a car, Philadelphia is widening its search for answers.
District Attorney Larry Krasner announced Thursday that his office will open an independent investigation.
The review will examine the care Malayshia Alford received and the failures that may have surrounded her death.
Krasner said more information is expected in the days ahead, including about who else may bear responsibility for what happened to her.
He also pointed at the institutions that were supposed to protect her, a list that reaches far beyond one foster home.
What Happened to Malayshia
Malayshia was a student at Robert E. Lamberton School in West Philadelphia.
A video shared by a former teacher shows her singing in class, smiling the way her neighbors now describe her.
She was last seen alive on Thursday, October 22, at the foster home on the 500 block of North Simpson Street.
She never arrived at school the next morning.
She was reported missing on Monday, October 26, and the city searched for her for more than a week.
Surveillance video from about 1:53 a.m. on October 26 showed what officials believe was her body being moved from the home in a bag.
A witness led investigators to a car in Lindenwold, New Jersey. Her body was found in the trunk late on November 4.
The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide and found that she died of blunt force trauma.
The Charges Against Her Foster Mother
Her foster mother, Carprice Williams, age 36, was arrested and charged on November 5.
Williams is a teacher with the School District of Philadelphia, the same school system Malayshia attended.
Prosecutors charged her with murder, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal use of a communication facility, and possession of an instrument of crime.
She also faces counts of recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse.
Williams is being held without bail. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 23, and she had no criminal record before this case.
The charges are allegations that have not been proven in court. Williams is presumed innocent unless a jury decides otherwise.
The System That Was Supposed to Protect Her
Malayshia was in the legal custody of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services when she died.
Her case management came from Catholic Community Services, known as Community Umbrella Agency No. 4.
Pennsylvania MENTOR certified the foster home where she lived.
A state review of her death, required under Pennsylvania law through the Act 33 process, is already underway.
Court records from an earlier civil case have deepened the questions now facing the city.
Two sisters were placed in the same home in 2020. In January 2021, one of them, age 4, was hospitalized after being badly hurt.
State officials substantiated abuse against both girls. A review panel of city and state officials recommended that Williams never be used as a foster parent again.
The home was closed. Williams appealed, and the abuse report was later removed from her record.
Malayshia was placed in that same home years later. How that placement happened is now a central question of this investigation.
At the November 5 announcement, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Malayshia deserved safety, love, and a chance to grow up.
Her grandmother, Sylvia Brown, and other relatives stood with prosecutors that day, as they have every day since.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs and the Rev. Dr. Alyn Waller of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church stood with them.
A City Demanding Answers
Mayor Cherelle Parker signed an executive order on November 10 creating a Child Welfare Review Committee.
The committee brings together national, state, and local experts to review the child welfare system, including the Department of Human Services.
Its recommendations are due within 120 days. The mayor pledged that no stone would be left unturned in the search for what went wrong.
City Council is expected to introduce a resolution Thursday calling for social workers to wear body cameras during their work with families.
On Thursday morning, a community ride of cars and bikes traveled from North Simpson Street to the Governor’s Mansion in Harrisburg demanding justice.
Neighbors have built a memorial outside the home where she lived, with teddy bears, candles, and flowers gathering by the tree.
What Comes Next
The independent investigation announced Thursday is still taking shape, and prosecutors say its findings will be shared as they develop.
Black children enter foster care at rates well beyond their share of the population, in Philadelphia and across the nation.
For the Black families who trust this city to protect children placed in care, the stakes reach far beyond one courtroom.
Malayshia was a daughter, a granddaughter, a classmate, and a child who loved to sing. Her city now owes her family the whole truth.
Anyone with information about her case can contact Philadelphia police through the department tip line at 215 686 8477.
Urban City Podcast will follow this investigation as it unfolds. Read more in our News coverage and at urbancitypodcast.com.
