Historic conviction: Jury finds Silver Spring man guilty of killing girlfriend, her unborn child
Nov 22, 2024
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) -- In a historical move, a jury convicted a man for murdering his girlfriend and her unborn child - the first time in Montgomery County someone has been convicted for the murder of a viable fetus.
Torrey Damien Moore, 33, was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder on Friday for fatally shooting his girlfriend, 26-year-old Denise Middleton. Middleton was eight and a half months pregnant at the time and her baby also died.
A photo of 26-year-old Denise Middleton. (Courtesy of the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office)
Moore was convicted of the first-degree murder of another person - 61-year-old Ayalew Wondimu - on May 16, 2024, making the verdict on Nov. 22 his third first-degree murder conviction.
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According to the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office, Wondimu was a clerk at a Shell convenience store in Silver Spring at the time of his murder. Though Moore had previously been banned from the store, he walked in on Dec. 8, 2022, and got into an altercation with Wondimu.
At around 3 p.m., Moore pulled out a gun and shot the man, killing him.
A day after the shooting, detectives showed up at Moore’s apartment in the 1100 block of Oak Leaf Dr. to serve him with an arrest warrant. It was there that they found Middleton dead.
She'd been shot seven times.
An autopsy found that her baby - a boy - was viable when she was killed, meaning he could have survived.
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Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) detectives learned Moore and Middleton went into the apartment complex along Oak Leaf Drive at around 7 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2022 - about two months before the shooting at the Shell.
Moore was captured on surveillance video pushing her toward the elevators and their ride up to his apartment.
Courtesy of the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office
Courtesy of the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office
Surveillance captured Middleton and Moore in the lobby and elevator of his apartment complex on Oct. 9, 2022 - the last time she was seen alive.
It was the last time Middleton was seen alive.
Police said they believe Moore shot her in the minutes that followed and he was seen on surveillance video leaving the crime scene alone.
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He traveled the country for about 26 days after and search engine history during that time showed he searched for "How long does it take for a dead body to smell?" and "How to move a dead body without being seen."
Moore lived with the decomposing bodies of his girlfriend and her unborn child until his arrest on Dec. 9, 2022.
In addition to two counts of first-degree murder, a jury also found Moore guilty of two counts of use of a handgun in commission of a felony, one count of crime of violence against a pregnant person and one count of illegal possession of a firearm.
He faces the potential of life in prison without parole and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, 2025.
Moore is scheduled to be sentenced for the murder of Wondimu on Feb. 20, 2025.