Police find decomposing body of pregnant woman while arresting man in separate murder case

Police in Maryland found the decomposing body of a pregnant woman in the home of a man they were arresting in connection with a separate alleged homicide that occurred last week, authorities said.

Montgomery County police said Friday that they discovered the body when they arrested and charged Torrey Moore, 31, of Silver Spring, with shooting and killing Ayalew Wondimu, 61, at a gas station convenience on Thursday.

Police said Moore got into a fight with Wondimu, an employee of the Dash In convenience store at the Shell station, at 11150 New Hampshire Ave., around 3 p.m. Thursday. A verbal dispute that began when Moore approached the counter turned physical, and Moore shot Wondimu multiple times in the chest with a handgun he had in his vest, police alleged.

Wondimu was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

When officials obtained a no-knock search warrant for Moore's apartment and searched it early Friday morning, they discovered the body in the apartment “in an advanced stage of decomposition,” police said.

More told authorities that he had been in a relationship with the woman and that she was eight months pregnant when she died, county police said.

He also told police that “there had been some type of fight between the two about one month prior that led to the victim becoming deceased prior to today,” Police Chief Marcus Jones told reporters Friday, adding that police believe the woman lived at the apartment.

Police arrested Moore at his apartment and charged him with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm while committing a felony.

The medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy, and the woman’s identification and additional charges will be withheld until the cause and manner of death are determined, police said.

A neighbor, Tony Pineda, who said he has lived at the apartment complex for two years, told NBC Washington he detected a smell emanating.

“It just smells like trash,” he told the station. “I don’t know. It’s just a bad smell.

“I mean, knowing it’s right here is kind of crazy,” he added.

Jones told reporters Friday that police are "a little bit amazed that we did not receive any calls — none that we have seen thus far — that would've given us any indication that something was occurring within that apartment."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com