An argument over their one-time relationship led a Butler woman to stab her ex-boyfriend in the stomach early Thursday morning, city police said.

Diana Mae Cravenor, 29, of 302 N. Main St., Apt. 1 faces felony assault and other charges for allegedly stabbing 28-year-old James Patrick McKenna of Butler at her apartment.

She is in the Butler County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bond.

McKenna was stitched up for the injury from the knife’s 2½-inch blade and released from Butler Memorial Hospital later that same day, authorities said.

Police were called to Cravenor’s apartment about 3:30 a.m. and when officers got there they found McKenna bleeding badly with a stab wound to his abdomen, said Detective Sgt. Mark Peffer.

A folding knife with a locking blade, used in the attack, was found in the apartment.

While McKenna was taken to the hospital, Cravenor was taken into custody.

The defendant’s initial story was another person had stabbed McKenna, but officers first on the scene were skeptical. Cravenor changed her story and confessed during an interview at the police station, Peffer said.

“They were arguing about their relationship and she confirmed that she had stabbed McKenna,” Peffer said

Alcohol likely fueled the argument. Peffer said both victim and defendant had been drinking.

District Judge Pete Shaffer arraigned Cravenor on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and false reports to law enforcement authorities.

Cravenor and McKenna apparently had a stormy relationship even when they were still a couple.

The defendant was arrested in September 2004 for hitting McKenna in the arm with a soup can and in the head with a plastic pitcher during an argument.

In that case Cravenor pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, according to Butler County Court records, and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation.