A 34-year-old Maryland man, Torrey Moore, has been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in connection with the 2022 deaths of his pregnant girlfriend and a store clerk. Repòrtedly, Moore spent weeks with his girlfriend’s decomposing body before killing the stranger clerk.
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According to Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy, and reported by PEOPLE, Moore was arrested back on December 8, 2022, after shooting 61-year-old Ayalew Wondimu at a convenience store in White Oak.
McCarthy said, during a press conference, that Moore had shot Wondimu multiple times following a heated argument. He would then return to his apartment, which was located across the street.
Shortly after, as per NBC 4, a SWAT team arrived at Moore’s apartment hours after the shooting. Upon entering his residence, authorities were shocked to find the decomposing body of 26-year-old Denise Middleton. She was Moore’s pregnant girlfriend, and she lay under a blanket.
Surveillance footage showed Moore shoving Middleton into an elevator back on October 9, 2022, in his building. It is believed that, on that very same day, Moore shot Middleton seven times. She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant at the time.
Decomposing Body
After carrying out the violent murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Moore traveled to North Carolina and California for weeks. McCarthy revealed that Moore used his phone to search for “how long does it take for a dead body to smell? ” and “how to move a dead body without being seen?”
After 26 days of traveling through the aforementioned states, Moore returned to his Maryland apartment. For weeks, he lived alongside Middleton’s decomposing body, as well as with his unborn child’s corpse. Reportedly, the boy had been named Ezekiel by Middleton.
According to WJLA, Torrey Moore was convicted on May 16, 2024, for Wondimu’s murder. Months later, a separate jury convicted Moore on November 22, 2024, for the deaths of both Middleton and her unborn child. As per the outlet, it was the first time in history that Montgomery County convicted someone for the death of a viable fetus.
On Friday, May 30, 2025, Torrey Moore was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences. He was also sentenced to an additional 80 years. As per WJLA, he will be eligible for parole when he is in his 90s.