The sentencing of the Florida teenager responsible for hitting a teacher over his Nintendo Switch prompted accusations of bias from his mother.
(Video credit: WESH 2 News)
In February 2023, Brendan Depa, then 17, was charged with felony aggravated battery after he turned his anger on paraprofessional Joan Naydich, 57, when he learned his gaming privileges had been revoked More than 17 months after horrific images of the attack were published, the young man who was tried as an adult was sentenced to five years in prison.
“Aggravating the senseless physical violence was the shouting of obscenities, spitting at Ms. Naydich both before and during the incident,” Circuit Judge Terence Perkins said, as Depa received credit for time served and the sentence awarded included 15 years of probation. “He chased her down the hall, shoved her so violently from behind that she flew through the air and was knocked unconscious when she landed on the floor of the hall. He then proceeded to kick her, then jumped on her 'her and hit her on the head and body more than 15 times.”
His adoptive mother, Leanne Depa, expressed her view that the sentence was too harsh and was heard saying in the press: “They're punishing him for being black, they're punishing him for being old and they're punishing his disability.”
“I think he needs help and I think he needs treatment. But I don't think he should be put in a prison where he will be taken advantage of or harmed,” WESH said. “I had said at school that being hungry was a trigger, noise was a trigger, being told 'no' was a trigger, correcting yourself in front of other people was a trigger and electronics were a big triggering”.
Nearly a year after the attack, the 6-foot-7, 270-pound Matanzas High School student with autism spectrum disorder was reported to have a history of trying to intimidate Naydich and had been particularly aggravated that day after getting into a fight with another student the day before that had cost him his bus privileges, throwing his routine off.
After Depa learned that a complaint from a teacher had also cost him his playing privileges for being a distraction to other students, his anger at Naydich for making the recommendation led him to follow her from the classroom when trying to get away from the situation.
“The last thing I remember is having my hand on the door handle,” he said New York Post in January “I don't remember anything [else] until 3:30pm when I arrived. And at that time, I was in the emergency room and my son and my daughter were there.”
His injuries included five broken ribs, a concussion and emotional trauma he described during a hearing in May: “Brendan Depa's actions that day have caused me to lose a job I had for almost 19 years, lose my security financial, lose my health insurance”.
“Like everything was taken away from me that morning. At 10 o'clock that morning. Everything was taken away. My life will never be the same,” she explained.
Meanwhile, as the mother asked for leniency and argued that the defendant was taking various prescribed treatment cocktails at the time, the prosecution and the judge reminded her that Depa had a history of battery charges. He was expected to have a full mental health evaluation conducted by the Department of Corrections.
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