Police identify body of pregnant woman found shot, dead in apartment

Police identify body of pregnant woman found shot, dead in apartment
Yellow law enforcement tape isolating crime scene. Blurred view of city, toned in red and blue police car lights

SILVER SPRING, MD – The body of a woman found dead inside a Silver Spring apartment last Friday has been identified as Denise Middleton.

Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police Department said the 26-year-old woman was allegedly killed by Torrey Damien Moore sometime in October of this year.

As Montgomery County Police executed a search warrant for a homicide committed by Moore on Thursday, December 8, 2022, Middleton’s body was discovered.

After the shooting death of 61-year-old Ayalew Wondimu, an employee of the Dash In Convenience Store, located in the 11100 block of New Hampshire Avenue, officers obtained a search warrant for Moore’s apartment, located at 11235 Oak Leaf Drive.

The body of Middleton was discovered in a bedroom in an advanced state of decomposition, and was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) for autopsy. Middleton was approximately 38 weeks pregnant at the time of her death and the fetus, a boy, would have lived if Middleton had delivered at that time. Middleton was also found to have been shot multiple times during the autopsy.

A warrant has been issued charging 31-year-old Moore with first-degree murder for the death of Middleton, first-degree murder for the death of a viable fetus, and a crime of violence against a pregnant woman. Currently, he is being held without bond for the murder of Wondimu.