November 05, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
The body of a missing 10-year-old girl from West Phildelphia was found in South Jersey.
The remains of a 10-year-old girl from West Philadelphia were found in the trunk of a car in Lindenwold, New Jersey, on Wednesday night — more than a week after she was reported missing.
Carprice Williams, the child's foster mother, has been charged with murder, endangering a child and other related offenses, Assistant District Attorney Ashley Margaret Toczylowski said in a news conference Thursday.
Jalayshia Alford, who also went by Malayshia, was last seen alive on Thursday, Oct. 22, at her home on the 500 block of North Simpson Street, Toczylowski said. Surveillance video from Monday, Oct. 26, shows her body being moved from the home in a bag. The footage and a witness helped lead law enforcement to the vehicle in South Jersey where the body was later found. Medical examiners ruled the death a homicide by blunt force trauma, Toczylowski said.
Alford did not attend school on Friday, Oct. 23, or Monday, Oct. 26, though she wasn't reported missing until that Monday afternoon, the Inquirer reported. For over a week, police officers, FBI agents and community members searched for Jalayshia in West Philadelphia.
"Our children are among our most precious responsibilities, and we must do everything in our power to protect them," City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement Thursday afternoon. "We must also take a hard look at the circumstances surrounding Jalayshia's disappearance and the systems entrusted with her care."
