Student with autism who knocked out teacher over Nintendo Switch sentenced to five years in prison



Wednesday, August 7, 2024 - A Florida student with autism who brutally knocked out a high school teacher unconscious over his Nintendo Switch last February has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Brendan Depa, now 18, threw his head back after Circuit Judge Terence Perkins handed down the punishment on Tuesday evening.

Depa also received 15 years of probation after his release and will be placed in a group home, court records showed.

He was charged with felony aggravated battery, and bodily harm after he attacked paraprofessional Joan Naydich in a hallway inside Matanzas High School in Palm Coast.

The then-17-year-old, 6 feet 6 and 270 pounds was seen on security footage sprinting toward the female educator, who turns and spots her assailant a split-second before he shoves her to the floor.

Depa then repeatedly stomps on the unconscious paraprofessional before punching her 15 times.

Several staff members were needed to remove Depa from Naydich and hold him to the floor.

In October, Depa pleaded no contest to the charges. An original sentencing date, when he faced up to 30 years in state prison, was rescheduled after Perkins said he needed to hear from more witnesses in May.

The teen, who has autism spectrum disorder, will serve his sentence in jail despite pleas from his mother and defence attorney.

Depa then repeatedly stomps on the unconscious paraprofessional before punching her 15 times.

Several staff members were needed to remove Depa from Naydich and hold him to the floor.

In October, Depa pleaded no contest to the charges.

The teen, who has autism spectrum disorder, will serve his sentence in jail despite pleas from his mother and defence attorney.

“They are punishing that he is black, they are punishing that he is large and they are punishing his disability,” the teen’s adoptive mother, Leanne Depa, said after the sentencing.

“I think he needs help, and I think he needs treatment. But I don’t think he needs to be put away in a prison where he’s going to be taken advantage of or harmed,” she added, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

She went on to call out the school for not properly handling her son’s disabilities.

“I had told the school that being hungry was a trigger, that noise was a trigger, that being told ‘no’ was a trigger, that being corrected in front of other people was a trigger, and electronics was a huge trigger,” Leann Depa added.

Depa’s attorney said he should be tried as a juvenile since he attacked Naydich when he was still 17, but Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark argued the teen had a history of violence, according to WESH.

Perkins agreed with Clark’s argument and said the February 2023 attack wasn’t an isolated incident and that Brendan Depa had numerous battery charges in the past, the outlet reported.

Naydich alleged that Depa had spat in her face and called her a “whore.”

“The last thing I remember is having my hand on the door handle,” Naydich told The Post in January. “I don’t remember anything [else] until 3:30 p.m. when I came to. And at that point, I was in the ER and my son and daughter were standing there.”

Naydich, who first encountered Depa in January 2022, previously said she has PTSD and suffers from anxiety because of the attack.

“Brendan Depa’s actions that day has caused me to lose a job that I had for almost 19 years, lose my financial security, lose my health insurance,” Naydich said during a May hearing.

“Like everything was taken away from me that morning,” Naydich added. “At 10 o’clock that morning. Everything was taken away. My life will never be what it was before.”

Depa can appeal his sentence in writing but was ordered to have no contact with Naydich and remain 500 feet away from her home and place of work.

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