WNBA star Maya Moore, husband Jonathan Irons, share their love story post-wrongful conviction

Moore helped her now-husband gain his freedom after 23 years

Mar 10, 2021

Just a year after helping to exonerate Jonathan Irons, WNBA star Maya Moore and Irons tied the knot.

In an interview with Robin Roberts that aired Wednesday on Good Morning America, the couple gave us an update on their marital bliss.

“It’s been full, to say the least,” said Moore, who wed Irons in September 2020. “We get to actually live together and live life together and fulfill some dreams together, have fun and just kind of relaxing after such a long stretch of battle and stress and striving.”

Maya Moore and Jonathan Irons on Good Morning America (Source: ABC News)

Shortly after Moore met Irons through a prison ministry program in 2007, she began to raise awareness of his case.

Initially, Irons faced a 50-year sentence for burglary and assault in Missouri. But as Moore shined a light on details of his case, a series of problems even began to be acknowledged by the judge who later vacated his convictions.

Irons was just 16 when he was arrested for a nonfatal shooting of a white homeowner during a burglary. His DNA, fingerprints, footprints, nor any physical evidence were ever linked to the crime, but an all-white jury convicted him anyway.

Moore and Irons’ love story underscores the commitment of WNBA players to advocacy and prison reform. In 2020, the women’s basketball league dedicated its season to social justice.

Now free, Irons is pursuing a civil lawsuit against the authorities who investigated his case. He hopes to prevent additional wrongful convictions from occurring.

“I am not the only person that this has happened to,” he told Roberts. “This lawsuit is about publicly exposing what has happened to me, sharing the truth, and creating public awareness. And hopefully creating a deterrent to stop this from happening to someone else.”

As previously reported by theGrio, Moore, out of women’s basketball powerhouse UConn, was a 2-time NCAA champion and a 4-time WNBA champion. After her sixth season with the Minnesota Lynx, she left that career behind to help Irons become free. He was released last July 1 after serving 23 years.

In September, she announced that the two had married.

“We wanted to announce today that we are super excited to continue the work that we’ve been doing together, but doing it as a married couple,” Moore said. “We got married a couple of months ago, and we’re excited to share this new chapter of life together.”

During the interview, Moore shares the timeline of their love story, beginning when she met him. The WNBA champion describes learning of Irons and his story from family members while an 18-year-old college freshman.

“I was interested in learning, got to know him and over the last 13 years, we have developed a friendship and entered into this huge battle to get him home. Overtime, it was pretty clear what the Lord was doing in our hearts, and now we’re sitting here today,” said Moore.

Watch the couple’s latest interview with Roberts below:

Additional reporting by DeMicia Inman

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