Carprice Williams is now charged with the murder of 10-year-old Malayshia Allford, and the complaint paints a grim picture of what investigators say happened before the child died. It alleges Williams threw Allford down stairs, denied her food and water, and made her wear a weighted vest while walking up and down stairs.
The case has drawn fresh attention because it is not the first time Williams has faced serious allegations involving a child. An attorney said a previous abuse case involving another child happened in 2021, and a lawsuit said state officials later recommended she never foster again after a 4-year-old girl nearly died in her care. That child, the suit said, suffered severe abuse, malnourishment and a traumatic brain injury. The case represented by Nadeem Bezar was settled this year.
Bezar said Pennsylvania DHS had already found Allford had been physically and sexually abused in a previous foster home before she was placed with Williams last year. He said the placement should never have happened. “This child is not supposed to be placed in this home. It makes no sense,” Bezar said. He added, “How does it happen? It is not supposed to, plain and simple. With what was reported by the prior certifying agency as the reason to closing the home, this is never supposed to happen again,” and said, “At this point initially we're looking at the child welfare agencies that certified the homes and the CUA's that are supposed to check on the child,”
The placement was managed by Catholic Community Services under the Philadelphia Archdiocese, and Williams also worked as a teacher in the Philadelphia School District. That overlap is part of why the case is drawing scrutiny now: a child who was already identified as vulnerable was later placed in a home tied to earlier abuse concerns, even after officials had reportedly warned she should not foster again.
Logan, a former parent, said her children had long told her Williams could be cruel. “My kids would always tell me how she'd be mean to them,” she said. With Williams facing a murder charge and investigators looking back at how she was allowed to foster again, the unanswered question is less about what happened in that home than how the system cleared the path for it.
