Dozens of community members gathered Saturday morning in Philadelphia to honor Malayshia Alford, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in the trunk of a car in New Jersey earlier this week. Philadelphia activist Isaiah Thomas, better known as “HMBL Zayy,” organized a march down Broad Street f rom Hunting Park to the city’s Department of Human Services Office on Arch Street in honor of Alford. During Saturday’s demonstration, community members called for greater accountability, transparency and stronger protections for children in foster care. Demonstrators held signs that read “Justice for Malayshia” and “Investigate DHS” after the girl’s foster mother, Carprice Williams, 36, was charged with her murder. “A lot of people just working with the kids for a check. If you don’t love them, don’t work with them. You gotta love the kids and have a passion and really want to change their life,” Thomas said. Court documents obtained by NBC10 Investigators revealed that Williams physically abused the girl and used the child’s phone to send text messages to herself in an effort to mislead investigators after Alford’s death. L to R: Carprice Williams, Malayshia Alford According to investigators, Alford was last seen alive on Oct. 22 at a home along the 500 block of North Simpson Street in West Philadelphia. She was later reported missing. Her disappearance prompted an investigation involving Philadelphia police, the FBI and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, police focused their search efforts on a field in West Philadelphia, but only the body of an animal was found. Investigators said they obtained surveillance video later that night showing Alford’s body being removed from the home on North Simpson Street on Monday, Oct. 26, shortly before 2 a.m. That video led law enforcement officials to a vehicle and driver. The FBI and Philadelphia police then spoke with the driver who led them to Alford’s body. They then found the girl’s body in the trunk of a car around 11 p.m. on Wednesday in Lindenwold, New Jersey. Alford was taken to the New Jersey Medical Examiner who determined she died from blunt force trauma. Her death was ruled a homicide. Williams is charged with murder, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection with Alford’s death. Early Friday morning, Williams was ordered held without bail following her arraignment on the charges. ...read more read less