Maryland man gets 3 life sentences for killing unborn fetus, mother and store clerk who sold him iced tea

BALTIMORE — A Maryland man has been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the death of his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child.

Torrey Moore, 33, was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences on two counts of first-degree murder for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Denise Middleton, and for the death of her unborn fetus.

In December of 2022, Moore was arrested and charged with a homicide at a gas station in Silver Spring.

Moore shot a store clerk over a bottle of iced tea — then led police to the body of his pregnant girlfriend, left to rot after he killed her weeks earlier.

Moore, 31 at the time, walked into a convenience store across the street from his White Oak apartment, placed a bottle of iced tea on the counter and began arguing with the clerk on the afternoon of December 8, 2022, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said during a news conference.

He shot 61-year-old Ayalew Wondimu, then leaned over the counter to shoot him several more times after he fell to the floor, McCarthy said.

Then, Moore walked back across the street to his apartment. There, a responding SWAT team found the body of his live-in girlfriend Denise Middleton under a blanket in an “advanced state of decomposition,” he said.