A Silver Spring, Maryland, man was convicted in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Friday in the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and their unborn baby.
This marks the first time in county history that a conviction was delivered for the murder of a viable fetus, officials said.
Torrey Moore, 33, faces two first-degree murder charges for the deaths of his girlfriend, 26-year-old Denise Middleton, and their unborn baby, as well as one charge of a crime of violence against a pregnant person. Moore also faces several weapons charges.
Middleton was 38 weeks (eight and a half months) pregnant with a baby boy, Ezekiel, at the time of her death.
In December 2022, Moore shot and killed 61-year-old Ayalew Wondimu, a clerk at a Shell gas station convenience store, after getting in a dispute with him over items he was purchasing. Investigators also determined Moore had previously been banned by store managers.
Moore and Wondimu got into an argument, which escalated until Moore started throwing energy drink shot bottles at Wondimu, who then picked up a metal pole and swung at Moore.
That’s when surveillance video shows Moore pull a handgun from his jacket pocket and firing at Wondimu, who slumped to the ground behind the counter. Moore then leaned over the counter and fired several more shots at Wondimu, who was shot a total of three times, prosecutors said.
The following day, authorities found Middleton’s decomposing body inside Moore’s apartment.
According to then Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones, Moore later told detectives he had been in a relationship with the woman, that she was eight months pregnant and that he had shot her during “some kind of fight between the two” a month before.
Moore initially told detectives he was “pretty positive” Middleton was shot with the same gun he used in the killing of Wondimu, though he denied killing her. An autopsy later found Middleton had been shot seven times and that the unborn fetus she was carrying was viable, meaning he could have lived if birthed naturally and could have survived outside the uterus.
Surveillance video released Friday showed Middleton and Moore enter the Enclave Silver Spring Apartments on Oct. 9, 2022, and Moore can be seen grabbing and pushing Middleton toward the elevators. He could also be seen stopping a man from entering the elevator with them.
Moore told detectives he had pushed her while outside the apartment complex; and when she was still “kirking out a little bit,” he slapped and choked her while inside.
He told detectives that after he “discovered” Middleton dead, he traveled to California for over a month.
“This story is awful. There’s no way to slice it — this is a terrible case,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said Friday.
McCarthy also said that Moore had made Google searches including, “How long does it take for a dead body to smell?” and “How to move a dead body without being seen?”
Dennis Middleton, the father of the victim, spoke at the press conference Friday, saying, “I will miss my baby and never get the chance to meet my grandson.”
“It’s unfortunate that her life was cut so short because it was taken from her. We didn’t lose her, we were robbed of her. We were robbed of Ezekiel. And we are just happy that justice was served,” cousin Taylor Middleton added.
Moore faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28.
He still awaits sentencing for the death of Wondimu, where he faces charges including first-degree murder and weapons related charges. That court hearing is set for Feb. 20.
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