Man accused of killing gas station clerk and pregnant girlfriend found not competent to stand trial

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (TCD) -- A 31-year-old man who allegedly killed a gas station clerk earlier this month, as well as his pregnant girlfriend, was found to be not competent to stand trial.

On Monday, Dec. 19, Montgomery County State Attorney John McCarthy made the announcement outside the Montgomery County Circuit Court regarding Torrey Moore’s hearing. Moore reportedly appeared in court before Judge Amy Bills for a bond hearing regarding the fatal shooting of Ayalew Wondimu. He has so far been charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a violent crime.

According to McCarthy, the doctor who conducted the competency exam determined Moore was "a danger to himself or to others if he was released into the community."

He is still being held without bond.

According to Montgomery County Police, on Dec. 8 at 3:03 p.m., officers were called to the Dash In Convenience Store at the Shell gas station on the 11100 block of New Hampshire Avenue about a shooting. When they arrived, they found Wondimu suffering from a fatal gunshot wound.

Investigators learned Moore allegedly went to the convenience store and got into an argument with Wondimu, which resulted in Moore reportedly pulling out a gun and shooting him.

Homicide detectives went to Moore’s apartment, which was across the street from the gas station, and executed a search warrant. While there, they found the body of a pregnant woman "in an advanced stage of decomposition."

Montgomery County Police later identified the woman as 26-year-old Denise Middleton. She was 38 weeks pregnant, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined her baby boy "would have lived had Middleton delivered at that time."

An autopsy reportedly determined Middleton "had been shot multiple times."

There is a warrant for Moore’s arrest on charges of first-degree murder for Middleton, first-degree murder for the death of a viable fetus, and crime of violence against a pregnant person.

MORE:

• Press Conference - Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office
• Pregnant woman’s decomposing body found during man’s arrest for allegedly killing gas station clerk, 12/12/2022 - TCD
• Detectives Arrest Thirty-One-Year-Old Man for New Hampshire Avenue Homicide, 12/9/2022 - Montgomery County Police Department
• Montgomery County Police Identify Body of Woman Found in White Oak Apartment, 12/15/2022 - Montgomery County Police Department