Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Missing Girl Malayshia Alford, 10, Found Dead in New Jersey, Foster Mother Charged With Murder

Philadelphia prosecutors announced murder charges on Thursday against the foster mother of Malayshia Alford, a 10-year-old West Philadelphia girl whose body was found late Wednesday night in the trunk of a vehicle in Lindenwold, New Jersey.

District Attorney Larry Krasner announced the charges at a news conference on Thursday evening, joined by Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and FBI officials. Officials identified the girl as Malayshia Alford, correcting earlier missing person reports that listed her first name as Jalayshia. She lived in foster care on the 500 block of North Simpson Street in West Philadelphia.

Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski said a preliminary postmortem examination found that the girl died of blunt force trauma, and the death was ruled a homicide. Krasner said the foster mother, Caprice Williams, is charged with murder, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. The charges are allegations, and Williams is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

A new timeline from prosecutors

The timeline prosecutors gave on Thursday differs from the first missing person reports. Krasner said the last day Malayshia was believed to be alive was Thursday, October 22, when she went to school and returned to her foster home. She did not attend school on Friday, October 23, or on Monday, October 26, and she was reported missing on Monday afternoon.

Toczylowski said surveillance video recorded at about 1:53 a.m. on Monday, October 26, showed what officials believe was the girl's body being moved from the home in a bag. The video and a witness helped lead investigators to the vehicle in South Jersey, she said. Police located the vehicle, spoke with a person connected to it, and found the girl's body at about 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

The search lasted ten days and involved Philadelphia police, the FBI, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, family members, and community volunteers. At the Stonington Court apartments in Lindenwold, where the car was parked off Laurel Road, residents had formed a small shrine with balloons, a stuffed animal, and roses by Thursday afternoon, the Courier-Post reported.

Family and officials speak

Marquita Brown, the girl's aunt, thanked the city for the search. "We would like to thank everyone for their city wide search for our precious Malayshia," she said at the news conference. "This has been a very hard time for the family."

FBI Special Agent Wayne Jacobs said the investigation is not over. "While today's developments bring us closer to an understanding of what happened, our work is not finished," he said.

City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement that the city must look hard at the circumstances around the disappearance and at the systems that were responsible for the girl's care. Malayshia was in the custody of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services and was receiving foster care services, the department said, adding that child welfare confidentiality law limits what it can release about her case.

Krasner said the investigation remains active. Officials did not release details about the witness who led them to the car, and they did not say whether anyone else may face charges. Questions about Williams and her work as a school district employee were not answered on Thursday.