Bringing one of 2011’s super hit songs to life, Maya Moore and her husband, Jonathan Irons did find love in a hopeless place after all. The first time Moore met Irons was in 2007 when she was about to kick start her college basketball career at UConn. But, how did they cross paths? To be exact, it was the summer before Moore was about to embark on her NCAA journey when her godparents, who led the prison’s church choir, told Moore about Irons’ case. Coincidently, Irons was a member of that choir. As a result, the two connected sharing their faith as devout Christians.

Since then, not a day has passed when the two have left each other’s sight. On one hand, it was Moore, who left her WNBA career at her prime and put her fame and popularity to advocate for social justice reform. On the other hand, it was Irons, who despite developing feelings for Moore, didn’t want her to feel trapped. Their love has come a long way and is bearing priceless fruits for them to cherish for the rest of their lives as a happy couple. So, let’s explore their one-of-a-kind story. But, you might be wondering, how did Irons end up in prison in the first place? Let’s jump on that first.

Irons’ wrongful conviction

It was 1998, one of the suburbs in St. Louis echoed with a nonfatal g*nshot during a burglary of a Stanley Stotler’s house that had occurred while he had gone somewhere, only to find the main door open and someone was inside. Struck with shock, Stotler identified Irons as the person present on the scene, however, that wasn’t the case as there were issues with the identification. The court overlooked those issues and Irons was taken into custody.

More so, the only evidence that was submitted to the court was a police officer’s affidavit that claimed Irons had confessed to the crime during the interrogation process, however, there was no recording of the same. While Irons insisted that the confession never occurred, he was convicted as an adult and was sentenced to 50 years in prison, despite the prosecution’s weak foundation of the case.

Having spent nearly half of his sentence, Irons lived his life under maximum security and kept fighting injustice but never showed it on his face. In all that torturing mayhem, Irons did have a silver lining after all. He had fallen hard for Maya Moore, the friend he could only hug for a couple of seconds during her occasional visits. They had already exchanged messages and had several conversations since their first meeting.

They began to feel that bond and fought for Irons’ freedom, together

For the first six years, they shared a friendship of the kind that siblings have. However, it changed in 2013 during their conversation over the phone, as Maya Moore puts it, “he teased me with a joke that made my heart jump in my chest. Hold up. That’s not something a brother says to a sister.”

In 2017, she discussed Irons’ case in an interview for the Players’ Tribune, however, she left out, on purpose, the part about their blossoming romance as she wanted the people to consider Irons’ case on its merits and not question her intentions.

“I had to be very thoughtful and intentional about what I say publicly. I think presenting Jonathan to the world with the platform and the voice that I have, presenting him first as a person who has his own self apart from being my beloved, it was helpful so that people could establish Jonathan for who he was,” Moore described her thoughtfulness.

What then, you ask? Moore invested in a team of lawyers to help her and Irons in his fight for freedom. Hence, in 2019, she stepped away from the game to lock in her focus on his case. Moore worked relentlessly to raise awareness of Irons’ plight in the public forum.

Eventually, she had his case re-examined by a judge through the court system, and on July 2, 2020, Judge Daniel Green declared Irons’ conviction as void, citing the prosecution’s case as very weak and circumstantial at best.

Shortly after his release, Irons finally found the courage to pop the question to Moore. “When I got out we were in the hotel room we had some friends in the room, it was winding down and we were extremely tired, but we were still gassed up on excitement. It was just me and her in the room and I got down on my knees and I looked up at her and she kind of knew what was going on and I said, ‘Will you marry me,’ she said, ‘Yes,” Irons recalled the moment.

Jonathan Irons and Maya Moore tied the knot and welcomed their first child, Jonathan Hughston Irons Jr (JJ) in February 2022. Today, Irons is running a dog-training business and has been supporting Moore’s nonprofit foundation, Win With Justice, which aims for prosecutorial reform.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger