Joseph Morales, 20, was arrested Oct. 24 after an Irving police investigation into a reported domestic disturbance involving his pregnant girlfriend. He faces a third-degree felony charge of assault of a pregnant woman over an alleged incident on North O’Connor Boulevard.
The Irving Journal reported that officers responded at approximately 1:27 and that the alleged assault took place in the 300 block of North O’Connor Boulevard. According to the report, Morales was in the back seat of Zakayla Johnson’s vehicle when he struck her in the head with a hard object as she drove.
What the investigation found
Johnson told investigators she felt pain and dizziness after the alleged assault, the report states. Officers noted that she was visibly pregnant, and she told them Morales knew she was carrying his child. Morales, whom the report identifies as Johnson’s boyfriend of four years, acknowledged that they argued while he was in the back seat and confirmed he knew she was pregnant.
Officers searched for Morales after collecting information about the incident and found him a short time later. An officer determined there was probable cause to arrest him. He was charged with assault of a pregnant woman, a third-degree felony under Texas law.
A separate case involving Johnson
The report says Johnson’s bond was set at $25,000 and that she was released on bond. She also has a pending Tarrant County criminal case stemming from an April arrest by Fort Worth police. In that case, she was charged with endangering a child; the state alleged the offense involved conduct committed intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence. The Irving Journal reported that the Tarrant County case is unrelated to the Oct. 24 investigation in Irving.
Other recent Irving cases have involved allegations of violence against pregnant partners. In August, police accused 24-year-old Irving resident Darius LaKeith Mays of assaulting his seven-months-pregnant girlfriend and preventing her from leaving their apartment. Irving Weekly reported that he faced charges of assault of a pregnant person and unlawful restraint, with bond set at $25,500.
Other cases reported in Irving
In a June case, the Irving Journal reported that officers went to a residence in the 1300 block of East Union Bower Road. Police said 30-year-old Luis Cruz Guzman shut a door on his pregnant wife’s arm as she tried to leave during an argument, causing redness consistent with her account. Guzman was charged with assault of a pregnant person, a third-degree felony, and posted his $5,000 bond on June 6.
A separate case was resolved in March 2025, when Morgan Leighann Reeves, 27, reached a plea agreement with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and received two years of deferred probation on a non-adjudicated assault-causing-bodily-injury charge, according to the Irving Journal’s earlier reporting. The case stemmed from a 2024 indictment alleging Reeves assaulted a pregnant woman, Nitalia Rosario, at a Valley Ranch apartment complex by pulling her hair, forcing her to the ground, striking her and kicking her.
What state data show
The Texas Department of Public Safety’s 2025 Crime in Texas report lists 240,925 offenses statewide in its family-violence overview. That is a statewide figure, not an Irving-specific count, so it does not answer how many family-violence incidents were reported in Irving.
