Silver Spring man convicted of killing Shell gas station employee to stand trial for murdering pregnant girlfriend
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — A jury convicted a Silver Spring man for shooting and killing a Shell gas station employee back in November 2022 on Thursday.
Montgomery County Department of Police (MCDP) officers responded to the gas station in the 11000 block of New Hampshire Ave. in Silver Spring at 3 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2022. Inside, they found 61-year-old Ayalew Wondimu, an employee, shot a number of times.
An affidavit said he was working behind the register when he was shot.
Employee at Shell gas station shot, killed
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Surveillance video from the store showed Torrey Damien Moore, 33, getting an iced tea and approaching Wondimu just before 3 p.m. The two got into an argument when Moore picked up energy drink shot bottles and started throwing them at Wondimu.
Wondimu picked up a metal pole and tried to hit Moore, telling him to leave. Moore pulled out a gun and shot him.
Wondimu fell down behind the register and Moore leaned over the counter and shot him several more times.
Moore took the iced tea and left the store.
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. They found a dead pregnant woman who’d been shot seven times. Her body was in an advanced stage of decomposition.
Body of pregnant woman found in apartment of suspect in fatal Shell shooting
She was identified as 26-year-old Denise Middleton. Her autopsy revealed that her baby, a boy, was viable at the time of her death.
Murdered pregnant woman’s family breaks their silence, seeks justice
Moore was arrested and confessed to the Shell Gas station shooting during an interview at police headquarters. During that interview, he also told investigators that Middleton was his girlfriend.
According to an affidavit, Moore said he left his apartment and, after a short time, came back to find Middleton dead. He also found a gun in the apartment and later used the same gun to shoot the Shell employee.
Moore denied killing Middleton.
When asked to go over the circumstances surrounding his girlfriend’s death, Moore said he and Middleton went to get food and began arguing while they were on the way back to the apartment.
He said he pushed her down outside of his home and she began “acting like I was trying to kill her.” He said he told Middleton to get off the ground and “stop putting on a show.” Once inside, Moore said, “a slap was probably thrown” and “I probably choked her a little bit.”
He left to buy marijuana and, when he came back, found her dead.
He told investigators that the baby was his son who was due in October 2022.
Moore is scheduled to stand trial for Middleton’s murder on Nov. 18. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and related charges.
He faces the potential of life in prison for killing Wondimu. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12.
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