A Maryland man convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend, their unborn child and a convenience store clerk likely will spend the rest of his life in prison.

It’s the first time someone in Montgomery County has been convicted of killing a viable fetus.

The disturbing case began with a violent killing of a 61-year-old employee at a Maryland convenience store in December 2022. Ayalew Wondimu died after Moore shot him several times, police said.

Torrey Moore, now 34 but 31 at the time of the crime, was charged in that shooting, and a SWAT team was sent to search Moore’s apartment across the street hours later.

During the investigation, authorities made a horrifying discovery: the body of 26-year-old Denise Middleton, a pregnant woman, decomposing under a blanket.

Moore and Middleton were in a relationship, and Middleton was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Family said she had named the unborn baby Ezekiel.

“The child turned out to be the defendant’s child,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said on Friday, adding that Moore had a history of domestic violence.

Video evidence showed Moore grabbing Middleton in the lobby of the building and pushing her toward the elevator.

Prosecutors said that Moore then shot Middleton inside the apartment they shared in White Oak, and left her there for almost two months, prosecutors said.

“The story is awful,” McCarthy said in November. “There is no way to slice it. This is a terrible case.”

After shooting her, Moore left Middleton on the floor of their apartment while he traveled to North Carolina and California, prosecutors told the jury. Along the way, he searched Google on his phone and other devices for how to cover up the crime and hide the body, prosecutors said.

According to the McCarthy, Moore used the same gun in all of the murders.

Moore was convicted of three counts of first degree murder, and received a sentence of life for each of the three murders. He will also serve an 80-year concurrent sentence for a long list of other charges, McCarthy said.

Moore stayed quiet during the sentencing, offering no explanation for the violent crimes.

“I’d really like to hear why,” said Dennis Middleton, Denise’s father, at a press conference held after Moore was sentenced.

A Honduran national who was convicted of a crime in Maryland was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on May 22. 

Alex Yonatan Flores-Arce, 20, entered the U.S. illegally, according to ICE. 

U.S. Border Patrol encountered him near El Paso, Texas, in March 2019, where he was served with a notice to appear. 

Howard County fails to honor ICE detainer 

In announcing Flores-Arce’s arrest, ICE also accused Howard County of ignoring a request to keep him detained. Immigration officials said Flores-Arce was released back into the community twice. 

Flores-Arce was arrested in October 2024 and charged with rape in Howard County. He was found guilty in April and sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years of probation.

ICE said they submitted an immigration detainer for Flores-Arce on January 13 to the Howard County Department of Corrections. 

An immigration detainer is a request that ICE submits to state or local law enforcement, asking them to hold a person for up to 48 hours and send a notification before releasing a suspect. It allows federal immigration officials time to take a person into custody.

According to ICE, the department did not honor the detainer and instead released Flores-Arce from custody on May 5. 

On May 8, Flores-Arce was arrested for violating his probation. He was arrested by ICE as he left the detention center, officials said. 

“The decision by Howard County Detention Center to ignore our immigration detainer and release a removable individual with an egregious criminal history undermines public safety and put Maryland communities at risk,” ICE Baltimore acting Field Office Director Nikita Baker said.

Flores-Arce has a final administrative removal order and remains in ICE’s custody. 

Howard County designated as sanctuary jurisdiction 

Howard County was among eight Maryland counties that the Trump administration recently designated as sanctuary jurisdictions.

The designation came after an executive order from the President on April 28 required the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share a list of states, cities and counties that “obstruct the enforcement of Federal immigration laws.” 

According to the administration, sanctuary jurisdictions are locations that “deliberately and shamefully” ignore federal immigration laws.

“Sanctuary cities protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril,” DHS said. 

According to ICE Baltimore officials, Flores-Arce’s arrest was not the first time that Howard County failed to honor an immigration detainer. 

“This failure is not an isolated incident, but part of a concerning pattern we see all too often,” Baker said in a statement. “…Working together with local jurisdictions is the only way to keep our neighborhoods safe and uphold the rule of law.”