“HE SLEPT BESIDE HER CORPSE”: AMERICA STAGGERS AT TWISTED TRUTH BEHIND MARYLAND DOUBLE MURDER THAT SHATTERED A COMMUNITY!!!

Byline: A True-Crime Horror That Haunts the Heart of America

In a case that has sent tremors through even the most jaded true-crime followers, 34-year-old Torrey Damien Moore didn’t just commit murder—he rewrote the meaning of human depravity. What began with the cold-blooded slaying of a gas station clerk over a bottle of iced tea would unravel into a macabre nightmare that no one—not even seasoned detectives—could have imagined.

What authorities uncovered inside Moore’s Maryland apartment stunned the nation: the decomposing body of his 8-months-pregnant girlfriend, 26-year-old Denise Middleton, wrapped in a blanket, lifeless… and still lying in the home they once shared. She had been murdered nearly a month before the second killing. And Moore had been living with her remains the entire time.

 A MURDER OVER ICED TEA—THE FIRST BULLET FIRED

December 8, 2022. White Oak, Maryland.

Moore walked into a local convenience store just steps from his apartment. Security footage shows him placing a single bottle of iced tea on the counter. A minor disagreement followed. What happened next defied logic—and humanity.

Without hesitation, Moore pulled out a handgun and shot the 61-year-old clerk, Ayalew Wondimu, point blank. As the man collapsed behind the counter, Moore leaned over and pumped several more rounds into his body. Cold. Mechanical. Final.

He then walked back across the street as if nothing had happened.

But this wasn’t just a senseless store shooting. It was only the surface. Beneath it? An unspeakable horror waiting to be unearthed.

 A HIDDEN CORPSE AND A SHOCKING DISCOVERY

When a SWAT team entered Moore’s apartment hours later, expecting to find a suspect holed up with weapons, they found something infinitely more disturbing: a corpse in an advanced state of decomposition, hidden beneath a blanket.

The body was Denise Middleton—Moore’s girlfriend. She was 8.5 months pregnant. The baby’s name was going to be Ezekiel.

And he killed them both.

 SHE HAD ALREADY PICKED OUT THE NAME

Just two months before the store shooting, on October 9, surveillance cameras captured Moore pushing Middleton into their apartment building’s elevator. That was the last time anyone saw her alive.

Later that day, Moore shot her seven times—four bullets tore through her back.

According to court documents, Middleton had been planning for the baby. The nursery was partially set up. Clothes were folded. Ezekiel’s name had already been chosen.

And for 26 days, while her body slowly decayed in the apartment, Moore slept beside it.

 “HOW LONG UNTIL A BODY SMELLS?”—A WINDOW INTO MADNESS?

As investigators peeled back the layers of Moore’s digital life, they uncovered Google searches that painted a bone-chilling picture:

“How long does it take for a dead body to smell?”

“How to move a dead body without being seen?”

“How to plead insanity?”

Moore also traveled across state lines to North Carolina and California in the weeks after killing Middleton—perhaps running, perhaps unraveling. But he always came back. To that apartment. To her body.

And when questioned about his motive? Silence.

He never testified. Not at trial. Not even at sentencing.

 JUSTICE SERVED: A HISTORIC CONVICTION

On November 22, 2024, a jury found Moore guilty of two counts of first-degree murder—one for Middleton, one for her unborn son, Ezekiel.

Yes, a fetus. For the first time in Montgomery County history, a defendant was convicted of murder for the death of a viable unborn child.

Moore was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences. No parole until he’s well into his 90s—if ever.

“I don’t think anyone will ever truly understand what happened,” said Montgomery County Circuit Judge Rachel McGuckian. “Maybe not even him.”

 SICK, EVIL… OR ILL?

Moore’s defense tried to paint a tragic portrait: a man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, tormented by lifelong mental illness, slipping further from reality with each passing day.

“These acts were not the product of a cold and calculated individual,” said Assistant Public Defender Roberto Martinez. “The very fact that Mr. Moore was sleeping in the apartment with Ms. Middleton’s body shows just how far he had fallen from reality.”

But jurors weren’t convinced. And neither were the grieving communities in Maryland who asked—over and over—why didn’t he ask for help before destroying two lives?

 MENTAL ILLNESS OR MONSTER?

Public debate now rages online and in courtrooms: Should Moore’s crimes be seen through the lens of mental illness—or are they the calculated acts of a sociopathic killer?

Some argue he was out of touch with reality. Others see his Google searches, his travel, and his silence as signs of chilling, conscious guilt.

How do we define sanity in a world where someone can live with a corpse for a month?

 DENISE & EZEKIEL: LIVES CUT SHORT

Friends say Denise was excited to be a mother. She had struggled in life, but found peace in preparing for Ezekiel’s arrival. Her death—and his—feels doubly cruel.

There was no funeral for Ezekiel. No baby shower. No crib. Just a name. Just dreams. Just silence.

 THE OUTRAGE THAT FOLLOWS

The public is reeling. Outrage simmers on social media. True crime podcasts are already dissecting every frame of security footage, every search term, every phone record.

“How did no one notice a rotting body for a month?” some ask.

“Why was Moore even free in the first place?” ask others.

And the biggest question: How do we make sure this never happens again?

 FINAL THOUGHT

Torrey Moore didn’t just take three lives—Denise, Ezekiel, and Ayalew. He shattered our understanding of safety, sanity, and silence. He left a community traumatized, a family destroyed, and a nation horrified.

Some nightmares end when we wake up. This one? We’re still living in it.

America must now ask: Is justice truly served when the scars never heal?

Rest in power, Denise. Rest in peace, Ezekiel. We will not forget.