Iowa City domestic abuse suspect accused of setting fire to her victim’s apartment

Lang
7/8/23

A domestic abuse suspect now faces charges that she intentionally set two fires inside her alleged victim’s Iowa City apartment.

Iowa City Police were called to a domestic dispute on the 600 block of South Dodge Street just after 8:45 Friday night. A resident of the apartment told police the woman he lives with, 35-year-old Ayla Marshek, was inside when he arrived home. The man has a no-contact order against Marshek after she was removed from the apartment on Tuesday for reportedly striking the man with a lighter multiple times, causing dizziness and extensive bleeding from his head.  Marshek was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Injury, a serious misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.

Police say Marshek set two separate fires inside the bedroom when she returned to the apartment Friday night. The Iowa City Fire Department arrived and extinguished the blazes. There were multiple people inside the apartment building at the time Marshek reportedly started the fires.

Marshek now faces additional charges of 1st Degree Arson and a No-Contact Order Violation. If convicted on those charges, she faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.