Apparently, Mindy McCready's finally figured out life would be sweeter without the presence of on-again, off-again beau William McKnight.

The troubled country singer has sued McKnight, the father of her two-month-old son, Zander, for $3 million in damages, claiming his vicious attack on her in May 2005 sent her career into a downward spiral from which she could not recover.

"One of the problems is that, literally, venues worried about whether...McKnight would show up and someone would get hurt," McCready's publicist, Paul Berg, told the Tennessean. "It's been very interesting to see how difficult it's been to even put her someplace to do a free show to raise money."

The suit claims McCready was left with a "blanket mistrust" that greatly damaged her earning potential.

McKnight, who is facing charges of attempted homicide, allegedly ambushed McCready at her Tennessee home and beat her and almost strangled her to death. He was arrested and later released on $130,000 bail.

After McKnight's release, the pair apparently reconciled, though clearly not happily. In July 2005, McKnight was by McCready's side when she attempted to commit suicide via overdosing on pills and booze in a Florida hotel.

The "Guys Do It All The Time" singer later attributed her suicide attempt to having discovered she was pregnant by McKnight, on top of the pressures of various legal problems she was dealing with at the time.

Despite the desperate act, her romance with McKnight seemed to be going strong in August 2005, when they released a duet, "Sweeter," through his official Website, billymcknight.com.

"It's our love letter to each other for the world to hear," the couple explained in a statement on the site. "Sure, we expect there to be those who doubt our sincerity & timing. For us, we believe there's never been a better time to let everyone know that our love is real.

"As much as it is for us, the lyrics are also for our fans & those closest to us, a healing experience we wanted to share. We know that once the circus has left town & we're together again, our lives will definitely be, undoubtedly, Sweeter."

Rather than the sweetness she hoped for, however, McCready's life took another sour turn in September 2005 when she tried to take her life again by ingesting more than two dozen antidepressants, reportedly following a heated argument with McKnight over the phone. McKnight became suspicious and called authorities, who found the overdosed singer unconscious at her Nashville home.

In November 2005, McCready made appearances on both The Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live, where she claimed she still loved McKnight and was reluctant to end their relationship despite the fact that she was forbidden by law to see him.

"You are truly messed up. You really are," Winfrey told McCready at the time. "You are truly messed up."

There's no doubt that McCready has had a rough few years. The singer is still facing a drunk driving charge and a probation violation charge. Additional charges stemming from her alleged involvement with a con man were dropped in Arizona in November. Her legal problems began in 2004, when she pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining OxyContin at a Brentwood pharmacy.

According to her rep, McCready has been in counseling and is making an effort get her life back on track. Should she win her lawsuit against McKnight, Berg said she intends to put the money into a trust fund for her son.

"Mindy McCready is a person that's proven herself to be successful, and she fully expects to be successful again," Berg told the Tennessean. "She's not looking at any lawsuits against anyone as a means to create revenue for herself."