In a quiet Silver Spring, Maryland apartment, a young woman’s life, and that of her unborn child, were tragically cut short in an act of violence that would remain undiscovered for weeks. Denise Middleton, a 26-year-old female, was thirty-eight weeks pregnant and eagerly anticipating the birth of her first child, a son to be named Ezekiel. She was in a relationship with Torrey Damien Moore, and it was in his apartment that her life would come to a brutal end.
The grim discovery of
Middleton’s body was made on December 9, 2022, but her death had occurred much earlier. Investigators believe she was killed at least a month prior to being found. Her body, in an advanced state of decomposition, was located by a Montgomery County SWAT team that was executing a search warrant at Moore’s residence for an entirely different and unrelated homicide. Inside the apartment, they found Moore and took him into custody. An autopsy would later reveal that Middleton had been shot seven times.
The investigation into the unrelated homicide of a 61-year-old convenience store clerk, Ayalew Wondimu, had led law enforcement to Moore's doorstep. It was during this separate investigation that the tragic fate of Denise Middleton and her unborn son was uncovered. Moore was subsequently charged with the murders of both Middleton and her viable fetus, in addition to the murder of Wondimu.
In a landmark case for Montgomery County, Torrey Moore was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Denise Middleton and her unborn child. This was the first time in the county's history that a conviction for the murder of a viable fetus was secured. Moore was also convicted of handgun use in the commission of a felony, a crime of violence against a pregnant person, and illegal handgun possession. Following his conviction, he received three consecutive life sentences for the murders of Middleton, her unborn son Ezekiel, and Ayalew Wondimu.
