WNBA Star Maya Moore and Husband Jonathan Irons Announce Birth of Son: 'One of the Proudest Days'

Mar. 15, 2025

Maya Moore and Jonathon Irons.Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

The new parents told the morning show that their son Jonathan Hughston Irons Jr. — nicknamed JJ — was born in February.

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Moore, 33, shared the clip on her Instagram, tellingher social media followers, “Marrying Jonathan was one of the happiest days of my life!” before adding that “delivering JJ was one of the proudest days” of her life."

Plus, the two-time Olympic gold medalist added, “Witnessing Jonathan be a Father…Priceless😭.”

In 2020, Moore successfully helped free Irons, 42, from prison after stepping away from her basketball career to focus on his case.

“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 toldGood Morning America,

“He had been wrongfully convicted, he had been in prison over a decade at that point, so I was just interested in learning,” Moore explained.

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Irons was 16 years old when he wasarrested for a nonfatal shooting. Irons spent 20 years in prison, despite there never being any physical evidence linking him to the crime.

In 1998, an all-white jury convicted Irons on burglary and assault charges. The judge who later vacated his conviction said there was a series of problems with how the case was handled. Irons was given a 50-year sentence for burglary and assault at the Jefferson City Correctional Center in Missouri.

Maya Moore and Jonathon Irons.Bonnie Biess/FilmMagic

Two months after Irons was freed, the couple announced thatthey had gotten married.

Moore told the ABC morning show, “I got to know him and over the last 13 years we have just developed a friendship and [then] entered this huge battle to get him home and over time it was pretty clear what the Lord was doing in our hearts. Now we’re sitting here today, starting a whole new chapter together.”

source: people.com