After a shooting with no apparent motive in Maryland that left a convenience store clerk dead, police tracked the suspect back to his apartment where they uncovered something even more shocking.
A man in Maryland will likely never see freedom after he was sentenced on Friday to three consecutive life sentences years for the first-degree murders of Ayalew Wondimu, a 61-year-old convenience store clerk, and his pregnant 26-year-old girlfriend, Denise Middleton.
He will concurrently serve 80 years for a long list of other charges. The suspect purportedly had a long history of domestic violence. According to ABC affiliate WJLA, he won’t be eligible for parole until he is in his 90s.
He was charged with three murders for the deaths, with Moore becoming the first individual ever convicted in Montgomery County for killing a viable fetus, according to NBC affiliate WRC. Family Middleton had already prepared to name her baby Ezekiel, per the outlet.
Who knows how long Middleton’s death might have gone undiscovered had Wondimu’s senseless death not occurred on December 8, 2022, while he was working. After a lengthy investigation, police believe they’ve been able to uncover what happened — if not why.
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According to the Montgomery State’s Attorney’s Office in a press release, Torrey Damien Moore, 34, was already banned from the Dash In convenience store where he worked when he came in anyway and grabbed an iced tea.
It wasn’t long, though, before the suspect was allegedly throwing items from the front counter at Wondimu. After enduring this unexpected assault, Wondimu purportedly grabbed a metal pole from behind the counter and tried to defend himself by striking Moore across the counter.
“He went in there itching for a fight,” said Montgomery County Circuit Judge Rachel McGuckian of Moore, per The Washington Post. “He went there with a loaded weapon.”
It was at this point that police said Moore stepped back, pulled a “silver handgun” from a “front vest pocket” and fired point-blank range at Wondimu. When his victim collapsed to the ground, Moore allegedly reached over the counter and shot him again, multiple times, before fleeing.
He then purportedly picked up his iced tea from the counter and walked back across the street to his apartment. The entire altercation was captured on surveillance cameras inside the store, per police.
“He was my everything,” Wondimu’s widow said in court before the sentencing. “I am heartbroken.”
The following day, police were able to track their suspect in Wondimu’s shooting to his apartment across the street, where they conducted a no-knock raid. It was at this point, however, that the real-life story “became, tragically, worse than they ever could have imagined,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy in the statement.
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Discovering Denise Middleton
Immediately detecting “a terrible smell that was obvious to the officers,” they quickly discovered there was another victim — only this one had been deceased for quite some time already.
Under a blanket and on the floor in a back room of the apartment, police discovered the remains of Middleton, who was two-and-a-half months’ pregnant with Moore’s child at the time of her death. She had been shot seven times.
After further examination of her body, which was described as in an advanced state of decay, officials determined she had been dead some two months. The same gun had been used in both shootings.
They then began digging further into Moore’s activities over the past few months. They found surveillance video of Moore and Middleton walking into an elevator together on October 9, 2022, at the apartment complex around 7 p.m.
As described by WRC, the footage showed Moore grabbing Middleton in the lobby before pushing her toward the elevator. Inside the elevator, security footage shows Middleton moving to a corner away from Moore, appearing to wipe tears. This would prove to be the last sighting of Middleton alive.
Officials believe that the couple had an argument that got physical and this is when Moore shot Middleton. Leaving her body there, according to the investigation, police stated that he left the apartment about an hour after they arrived together, and then spent the next month traveling around the country, with WRC reporting he went from North Carolina to California and back.
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While he was away, examination of the suspect’s Google search activity uncovered queries related to covering up his crime and disposing of Middleton’s body, as reported by CBS affiliate WUSA, including:
“How long does it take for a dead body to smell?””How to move a dead body without being seen”How to plead insanity
In early November, evidence shows that Moore moved back into the apartment, where he continued to live with Middleton’s body until police arrived on December 9.
Moore was convicted of the first-degree murder of Wondium, as well as related firearm charges, on May 16, 2024. Then, on November 22, 2024, he was convicted in a separate trial for two first-degree murders for the deaths of Middleton and her unborn child.
There is no clear motive for either killing, with Moore offering nothing as he remained silent during his sentencing. After his sentencing, Middleton’s father, Dennis Middleton, expressed his frustration, saying, “I’d really like to hear why.”
“These acts were not a byproduct of a cold and calculated individual, but one who has struggled with his mental health for his entire life,” wrote Assistant Public Defender Roberto Martinez in court filings. “The very fact that Mr. Moore was sleeping in the apartment with Ms. Middleton’s body emphasizes that Mr. Moore’s mental illness brought him out of touch with reality.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages; Calls are confidential and toll-free.
