Ear Bitten Off In Spring Break Beach Brawl

MARCH 20--A spring break beach brawl ended with an 18-year-old combatant under arrest for allegedly biting off the ear of his opponent, police allege.

A sheriff’s deputy was patrolling Fort Myers Beach Monday afternoon when he “was flagged down in reference to a fight that occurred where one’s ear was bit off.”

An investigation confirmed that the victim, Juwan Black, suffered a “traumatic auricular amputation of his left ear” during a brawl with Jack Turner, 18. Black was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Video recorded by a bystander showed Turner pummeling Black as they wrestled in the sand. At one point, police reported, Turner “pulled Black’s head upward as he brought his face toward the left side of Black’s head.” It was then that Turner allegedly bit off Black’s ear.

A female witness, Hailey Seely, told cops that she was walking with Black and others when Turner “called him racial slurs” and “approached Black and hit him from behind.”

When the ensuing fight was broken up, Seely said, she “saw Black’s ear had been bitten off.”

Seen above, Turner was arrested at the scene on a felony battery charge. He was freed from the county jail the following day after posting $50,000 bond. A judge has ordered him to have no contact with Black.

In an application seeking the appointment of a public defender, Turner today reported having no income, and that his bond was posted by his family. Turner’s residence is listed as a three-bedroom Fort Myers home purchased by his parents in 2018.

Turner is scheduled for an April 21 Circuit Court appearance. (2 pages)