'Very evil': Parents recall troubling encounters with teacher charged with foster daughter's murder

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Parents of children who were previously taught by a Philadelphia teacher now charged with murdering her 10-year-old foster daughter are speaking out about their experiences in her classroom.

Carprice Williams, 36, is accused of killing 10-year-old Malayshia Allford, whose body was found inside the trunk of a car in Lindenwold, New Jersey.

Investigators say the child had been dead for days. Her cause of death was blunt force trauma.

One Philadelphia mother, who asked to remain anonymous, told Action News her son was in Williams' sixth-grade class at Thomas E. Mifflin School in East Falls.

She said she was shocked when she learned Williams had been arrested.

"When we finally saw who was arrested for committing that heinous crime, it was like a gut punch, not only for me but for my family, to know that that type of person was actually allowed into one of the schools to teach our child," she said.

Looking back on her interactions with Williams, the mother said she had concerns about the teacher's behavior.

"She had a way about her that was very, for lack of a better term, evil. Very evil," she said.

The mother said her son, who wasn't yet diagnosed with autism at the time, had difficulty navigating the classroom environment.

"At the time we didn't know, so he moved very quietly, and that was something that she didn't understand. I would say she would browbeat him and I very much had to advocate for him," she said.

RELATED: What we know about the foster mother charged in death of 10-year-old Malayshia Allford

She also described an interaction with Williams that became so heated someone had to intervene.

"There was an exchange between her and I when I was advocating for my son in which it got extremely heated, and someone had to step in to calm it down," she said.

The mother said the experience had a lasting impact on her son.

"She did a lot in breaking my son's confidence when he was with her, and we are still doing work to rebuild him," she said.

Kia Logan said her two daughters had similar experiences with Williams when they were in her sixth-grade class at Mifflin.

"She would pick on kids. She used to pick on both of my daughters," said Logan, who lives in North Philadelphia.

Logan said her children regularly came home telling her about their interactions with the teacher.

"My kids would always tell me how she'd be mean to them, and it wasn't just them," she said.

WATCH: Family members speak after charges announced in missing girl's death

Williams most recently taught fifth grade at Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School.

A colleague told Action News Williams went to work as usual last week, even participating in classroom activities with students.

"She was at work Friday. She had a pizza party with the kids, she was at the Trunk or Treat," said Nafeesa Cannon of West Philadelphia.

Williams was charged with murder in Allford's death.

RELATED: Foster mother charged in death of missing 10-year-old girl in West Philadelphia

Meanwhile, a memorial continues to grow outside the West Philadelphia foster home where the child lived.

Cannon remembered Allford as a sweet child who did not cause trouble.

"She was the sweetest, the sweetest little girl in the world. She didn't lie, she didn't cuss, she didn't act out," Cannon said.

Action News reached out to the School District of Philadelphia to confirm Williams' employment history and ask whether there had been any previous complaints. The district said it could not comment on personnel matters.

Williams was arraigned overnight and is being held without bail. She is scheduled to return to court later this month.