Former WNBA star-turned-activist Maya Moore and her husband Jonathan Irons, whom she helped free from prison due to a wrongful conviction, are first time parents! The couple just announced they welcomed a baby boy a few months ago. Celebrate inside…
Major congrats are in order for former Minnesota Lynx star Maya Moore and her husband Jonathan Irons. The happy couple just welcomed their first child together: a baby boy!
The WNBA star-turned-activist and her husband, whom she helped free from prison after he was wrongfully convicted, appeared on “Good Morning America” to share the good news. They told the morning show their son Jonathan Hughston Irons Jr. — nicknamed JJ — made his grand arrival in February.
Sharing the clip to her Instagram, the 33-year-old new mom expressed how happy she is in this phase of her life.
”Marrying Jonathan was one of the happiest days of my life!,” she captioned the “GMA” clip. “Delivering JJ was one of the proudest days of my life! Witnessing Jonathan be a Father…Priceless”
Aww. Peep the clip above.
In March 2020, the two-time Olympic gold medalist – who stepped away from basketball in 2018 – made headlines when she announced she married Jonathan Irons two months after he was released from prison. They tied the knot two months after Jonathan finished serving 22-years of a 50-year sentence on burglary and assault charges that were overturned.
At the age of 16, Jonathan was tried and convicted as an adult by an all-white jury for the burglary and shooting at the home of 38-year-old Stanley Stotler. During his time in prison, he always maintained his innocence, saying he was wrongfully identified during a line up.
A decade later, he met Maya, who was 18, through a prison ministry program. From there, romantic feelings started to grow.
“I met Jonathan when I was 18. I was about to be a freshman at [the University of Connecticut] and my godparents and my great uncle introduced me to him and his story, his case,” she previously told “GMA.”
A Missouri judge overturned Jonathan’s conviction after it was revealed that there were problems with the way the case had been investigated. A fingerprint report would have proved Jonathan was innocent, but it was never turned over to his defense team.
“He had been wrongfully convicted, he had been in prison over a decade at that point, so I was just interested in learning,” Maya explained.
The couple said they plan to continue their work of educating people about voting and to help other people who have been wrongfully convicted.
Congrats!
Photo: Screenshot via “GMA” video
