Sebastopol woman arrested on suspicion of choking 5-year-old daughter

Sebastopol Police Department officers arrested a woman Tuesday evening on suspicion of strangling her daughter until the child passed out.

Officers responded to a report of a possibly impaired driver in central Sebastopol to find a woman returning home - with a 5-year-old whose face and neck showed bruising and marks.

The woman admitted to strangling her daughter until the child was unconscious for an unknown duration but did not explain her actions, police said in a news release.

Melody E. Loukas, 39, was arrested on suspicion of battery with serious injury, assault likely to cause great bodily injury and willful injury to a child, all three of which are felonies, police said. Her bail was initially set at $250,000.

The child was hospitalized first in Santa Rosa and then in Oakland for evaluation and testing. Her injuries were not considered life threatening.