Mother charged with murder of starved baby

The mother of a 2-month-old found starved to death at a homeless shelter in West Philadelphia has been charged with murder.

Tanya Williams, 32, also faces a charge of endangering the welfare of a child, Philadelphia police said Saturday.

Williams' son Quasir Alexander died Dec. 23 after being rushed to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The cause of death was starvation and dehydration, police said.

Williams was being held without bail after being arrested and charged Friday night. She had been living with her six children, including Quasir's twin brother, at the Travelers Aid Family Services shelter at 49th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. The shelter provides meals and infant formula to residents, and a social worker had been checking on the family, sources familiar with the case said last week.

The five siblings are now in foster care, sources said Thursday.

Lutheran Children and Family Service, which runs the shelter, is conducting its own investigation while cooperating with the Philadelphia Department of Human Services' probe into Quasir's death, the organization's executive director, Richard Gitlen, said in a statement Friday.

Williams "was receiving short-term voluntary services" - similar to parenting classes - from Lutheran Children and Family Service until Dec. 21, Gitlen said.

"The tragic death . . . has saddened us deeply," he said.

The Travelers Aid shelter houses about 75 families, or about 275 people. It was not clear how long the family had been there; officials declined to discuss the family's case because of privacy concerns, and police had no further details Saturday.