A Montgomery County Circuit Court jury found Torrey Damien Moore, 33, of Silver Spring guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Ayalew Wondimu, 61.
Jury members also agreed Thursday that Moore was guilty of use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence and illegal possession of a regulated firearm.
Moore faces life in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 12.
Moore also is charged with two counts of first-degree in a separate case. He is expected to stand trial on that case on Nov. 18. In this case, Moore is charged in the death of his pregnant girlfriend and the unborn fetus she was carrying.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office, Moore entered a Dash In convenience store at a Shell gas station on New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring, where he went to the counter to purchase a drink.
The store management previously banned Moore from the store.
Moore and the clerk, Wondimu, began arguing when Moore threw his energy drink shot bottles at the clerk, striking him, according to the State’s Attorney’s office.
Wondimu then picked up a metal pole and tried to strike Moore as he told him to leave the store.
Moore then used a handgun to shoot Wondimu, according to the State’s Attorney’s office. Wondimu fell, and Moore leaned over the counter, shooting the victim again as he was helpless on the ground. Wondimu was shot a total of three times.
Moore then fled the scene.
The incident was captured on a store surveillance camera.
Montgomery County police detectives believed Moore was the suspect and went to his nearby apartment at the Enclave on Oak Leaf Drive to serve an arrest warrant Feb.9, 2022.
At that time, the detectives discovered the body of a pregnant female “in advanced stage of decomposition inside the residence,” according to the state’s attorney’s office.
An autopsy revealed the woman, Denise Middleton, 26, had been shot multiple times. The male fetus Middleton was carrying was viable at the time of death.
Moore has been held at Maryland’s maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital in Jessup after being found incompetent to stand trial in January of 2023. In July of that year, he was found competent to stand trial.
According to court records, Moore previously has been arrested and charged with armed robbery, first and second-degree assaults, robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, CDS Possession with intent to distribute, having a loaded handgun person and other charges.
