Philadelphia teacher charged with murder of 10-year-old foster daughter; lawsuit cites earlier abuse finding

A Philadelphia public school teacher who served as a foster parent in West Philadelphia has been charged with murder in the death of the 10-year-old girl living in her home. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, a lawsuit indicates officials had previously advised against letting her foster children again.

Carprice Williams faces counts that include murder, child endangerment, evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse, WHYY reported. 6abc said she remains jailed with no bail set and returns to court later this month. Reports differ on her age: 34 according to the Inquirer, 36 according to WHYY and 6abc. Her lawyers at the Defender Association of Philadelphia would not comment, the Inquirer said.

The Inquirer reported that Williams told authorities on Oct. 26 that the girl was missing. Police, FBI agents and residents searched for 10 days before investigators located her remains inside a car trunk in Lindenwold, in Camden County, New Jersey. An initial autopsy pointed to blunt force trauma as the cause, according to WHYY. Citing a law enforcement source, the Inquirer said video seemed to show a man removing the body from the rear of the house in the early hours of Oct. 26, inside a Christmas tree storage bag.

The Inquirer described a 2024 suit against Tabor Children's Services, an agency working under contract with the city. It says a 4-year-old who had lived with Williams went to the hospital in 2021 with a brain injury and malnourishment. According to the filing, a panel of officials then advised that Williams should not foster again. Williams is not named in the suit, but a lawyer confirmed to the Inquirer that she was the foster parent in question. A state official told the paper that Williams appealed and the abuse finding was erased. Tabor said it was not to blame, though it settled for $2 million.

"If [the near-fatality review panel] walked away with a recommendation that she should never be a foster parent, it's hard to understand how she then was a foster parent again," Cathleen Palm of the Center for Children's Justice told the Inquirer.

A state spokesperson told the Inquirer that Catholic Community Services oversaw the girl's care. The length of her stay is unclear: the Inquirer said she moved in last summer, while WHYY, citing the Inquirer, put it at roughly two years. The city's Department of Human Services would not comment.

WHYY and 6abc reported that Williams's most recent assignment was teaching fifth grade at Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School. The district cited its policy against discussing staff matters. Two parents whose children she taught earlier told 6abc they had been troubled by her conduct toward students.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said the death had "shaken our city at its core," the Inquirer reported. Balloons, candles and stuffed animals have piled up outside the home on North Simpson Street.

Compiled by True News from reporting by CBS Philadelphia, WHYY, The Philadelphia Inquirer and 6abc Action News. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/842