A St. Paul woman bit off a large chunk of her ex-husband’s ear during a drunken fight this past weekend, according to court records.

Latonya Bennett and her ex-husband had been drinking Saturday night on the front porch of their home they still share in the 600 block of North Western Avenue when they got into an argument, according to a criminal complaint filed earlier this week in Ramsey County District Court. After saying he wanted to leave, the 43-year-old Bennett blocked his path and struck him.

The ex-husband responded by saying he wished she would die. Bennett responded by hitting him several more times, the complaint said.

The couple then struggled, falling onto a nearby couch. As Bennett got on top of her ex, she grabbed a broken window screen frame and tried to strangle him with it, the complaint said. Then she bit off a triangle-sized chunk from the lower part of his right ear.

The ex-husband, who was not named in the criminal complaint, told investigators that Bennett had bitten him in the past and that her physical abuse of him has gotten progressively worse.

Bennett called police about 12:16 a.m. Sunday to say she had bitten his ear during an argument. When officers arrived they saw the ex-husband sitting on the porch with a large chunk of his ear missing. He was bloody, and so was the couch he was sitting on, the complaint said.

“I never meant to do it,” Bennett told police after she was arrested.

“I have never been in trouble my whole life.”

“Is he okay?” the complaint quoted her saying.

Prosecutors charged Bennett with felony count of third-degree assault on Tuesday. She was booked in to Ramsey County jail.

If convicted, Bennett could receive a maximum sentence of 5 years prison. She has no other known domestic violence convictions in Minnesota, the criminal complaint said.

READ THE COMPLAINT