American basketball player Maya Moore has revealed that she is now married to Jonathan Irons, the man she helped exonerate after he served over 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
Moore announced Wednesday on ‘Good Morning America’ with Irons by her side that the couple married earlier this summer.
“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,” Ms. Moore, seated beside Mr. Irons, said on Wednesday on “Good Morning America.”
Jonathan Irons regained freedom on July 1, 21 years after he was convicted on charges of burglary and assault. Irons, who pleaded not guilty, has insisted that he was not at the scene of the crime and had been misidentified. A judge ruled in March that prosecutors suppressed critical fingerprint evidence that strengthened Irons’ defence.
Moore met Irons through a prison ministry program when she was 18. In February 2019, she took a break from her basketball career to help overturn Irons’ wrongful conviction.
“Over the last 13 years we have just developed a friendship and just entered into this huge battle to get him home and just over time it was pretty clear what the Lord was doing in our hearts and now we’re sitting here today, starting a whole new chapter together,” she said.
Irons proposed to Moore once he had been freed, although he said he knew he wanted to marry her while he was still in prison.
“I wanted to marry her but at the same time protect her because being in a relationship with a man in prison, it’s extremely difficult and painful,” he said. “And I didn’t want her to feel trapped and I wanted her to feel open and have the ability any time if this is too much for you, go and find somebody. Live your life. Because this is hard.”
Maya Moore, who is currently on sabbatical, plays for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has won four WNBA championships and was the league MVP in 2014. She was the 2011 WNBA Rookie of the Year, a six-time All-Star and a five-time All-WNBA first-team honoree.