Maryland police say they made the gruesome discovery of rotting human remains inside the apartment of a man arrested for an apparently unconnected fatal shooting this week.
Torrey Moore, 31, was originally sought in connection with the Dec. 8, 2022, shooting death of a convenience store employee in Silver Spring, Md. Arresting officers with the Montgomery County Department of Police say that when they arrived to make that arrest, they found a dead woman in an “advanced stage of decomposition.”
Moore told detectives that the woman was eight months pregnant when she died and that the two had been in a relationship, police said in a press release. The woman’s body is currently awaiting an autopsy via the Montgomery County Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Details about the deceased woman have yet to be released, police said, because they are waiting to to determine her exact stage of pregnancy, confirm her identity, and notify her next of kin.
“We’re at the very early stages of this investigation, and trying to understand her family history, much about her, what has been occurring between these two individuals over the past – during the course of their relationship. And what would have occurred that would have warranted someone’s dead body to be in the apartment for a very lengthy period of time and not contact authorities,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said during a Friday press conference, according to Washington, D.C. ABC affiliate WJLA. “That raises a lot of concerns for us. So we’ve got a lot of work to do, to follow up with this particular investigation.”
Authorities first received a 911 call about a shooting at a Shell station on New Hampshire Avenue at around 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Fire and Rescue agents arrived first to find 61-year-old Ayalew Wondimu dead from multiple gunshot wounds in his chest.
According to Jones, Moore got an iced tea out of the cooler and took it up to the counter where “a verbal altercation” occurred.
At some point, Moore allegedly began throwing items from the front counter at Wondimu. Next, police said, the employee picked up a metal pole from behind the counter and tried to strike Moore from across the counter. The defendant then allegedly took a step back, removed a “silver handgun” from his “front vest pocket” and shot the convenience store clerk at point-blank range.
“Wondimu fell,” Jones said. “At which point, Moore again senselessly reached over the counter and filed multiple shots into Wondimu. Moore grabbed the bottle of iced tea and he exited the store.”
According to police, surveillance footage was used to help track the suspect down to his apartment complex. During the execution of a search warrant for Moore’s residence, police said, the wanted man and the mysterious dead woman were discovered.
“Detectives are waiting for the [medical examiner] to make a determination of the cause and manner of death along with a positive identification of the female victim to determine appropriate charges,” the police press release said.
Moore is currently being detained in the Montgomery County Central processing Unit on one charge of murder in the first degree and one charge of possession of a firearm while committing a felony.
According to WJLA, Moore’s first court appearance is slated for this coming Monday, Dec. 12, 2022.
[image via Montgomery County Department of Police]
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