Leave it to the Hub City to turn a basic custody dispute into a high-stakes, first-responder crossover episode of Maury. Meet April Mora, a 38-year-old Lubbock police officer, and Jonathan Forkner, a 39-year-old Lubbock firefighter. This dynamic public-service duo is currently enjoying some forced time off after being arrested by the Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit for allegedly treating an official Texas birth certificate like a mad-libs template.
The drama started back in 2023 when Mora ended a relationship while pregnant and began dating Forkner. A pre-birth paternity test explicitly confirmed that her ex-boyfriend was the biological father. Naturally, Mora did what any level-headed law enforcement official would do: she texted a screenshot of the medical results to the ex, adding, “And no, he will not carry your last name, I’ll be sure you aren’t there during my birth!!” Because nothing screams “I understand the legal definition of fraud” quite like putting your spiteful master plan into a permanent, highly screenshot-able text message.
When the baby arrived at University Medical Center, Mora and Forkner allegedly decided that Texas vital statistics laws were merely polite suggestions and signed official paternity forms claiming Forkner was the biological dad. When police eventually caught wind of the switcheroo and executed a search warrant for UMC’s birth records this month, the excuses came crashing down. Mora swore to investigators that a hospital employee gave her magical permission to rewrite biological science on the forms. Forkner, meanwhile, threw his girlfriend straight under the fire truck, admitting he blindly signed the government documents because she told him it was cool. Shockingly, UMC staff clarified that they do not, in fact, allow people to swap out biological fathers just because they are having a bad breakup.
Both Mora and Forkner were booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center and have since posted their $3,000 bonds. They are now sitting at home on administrative leave, meaning local taxpayers are effectively funding their transition into full-time reality TV stars while the legal system untangles this bureaucratic nightmare.
If a literal police officer and a trained firefighter cannot successfully coordinate a basic government document fraud without leaving a blatant text-message paper trail, what hope do the rest of Lubbock’s aspiring criminals really have?
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