Iowa City mother accused of wielding hammer, endangering children

An Iowa City woman is facing child endangerment and domestic assault charges after her husband told police that she barricaded herself in the house with a hammer and their 6-year-old daughter, according to a criminal complaint.

Police responded to a home at 3617 Donegal Court just after 8 p.m. Sunday on a report of an intoxicated woman with a hammer, according to the complaint. Angela Marie Gilson's husband told police that his wife had barricaded herself in the house with a hammer and their daughter, who told him, “Mommy hit me three times,” according to the report.

Officers interviewed the 6-year-old daughter, and she told them that her mother had punched her three times in the stomach, the report states. Gilson, 35, told her husband that she had hit their daughter because “the daughter hit her first,” according to the complaint.

A 20-month-old child also in the house was found to have a three- to four-inch scratch across her chest, according to police. Both the girls were present when Gilson allegedly wielded the hammer, police reported.

Gilson, who smelled of alcohol and was uncooperative with police, was arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse assault with intent to cause serious injury or displaying a dangerous weapon, an aggravated misdemeanor. She also faces a charge of child endangerment without injury, also an aggravated misdemeanor.

Gilson was still being held at the Johnson County Jail on Monday afternoon. Her bond has been set at $15,000 cash only.