Sentencing for the Florida teen responsible for beating a teacher over his Nintendo Switch prompted accusations of bias from his mother.
(Video Credit: WESH 2 News)
In February 2023, then-17-year-old Brendan Depa was charged with felony aggravated battery charges after he turned his rage on 57-year-old paraprofessional Joan Naydich when he learned his video game privileges were revoked. More than 17 months after harrowing footage of the attack was released, the young man being tried as an adult was sentenced to five years in prison.
“Compounding the senseless physical violence was the screaming of obscenities, spitting on Ms. Naydich both before and during the incident,” said Circuit Judge Terence Perkins as Depa was given credit for time served, and the adjudicated sentence included 15 years probation. “He pursued her down the hallway, pushed her so violently from behind that she flew through the air and was knocked unconscious when she landed on the hallway floor. He then proceeded to kick her, then jump on top of her, striking her in the head and body more than 15 times.”
His adoptive mother, Leanne Depa, expressed her view that the sentence was overly harsh and was heard telling the press, “They are punishing that he is black, they are punishing that he is large and they are punishing his disability.”
“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,” WESH reported her saying. “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.”
Nearly a year after the attack, it was reported that the 6-foot 7-inch tall, 270-pound Matanzas High School student with autism spectrum disorder had a history of attempting to intimidate Naydich and had been particularly aggravated that day after fighting with another student the day prior that had cost him his bus privileges, throwing off his routine.
After Depa learned a teacher complaint had cost him his game privileges as well for being a distraction to other students, his anger at Naydich for making the recommendation led him to follow her from the classroom when she tried to remove herself from the situation.
“The last thing I remember is having my hand on the door handle,” she told the New York 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.”
Her injuries included five broken ribs, a concussion, and emotional trauma which she described during a May hearing, “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.”
“Like everything was taken away from me that morning. At 10 o’clock that morning. Everything was taken away. My life will never be what it was before,” she explained.
Meanwhile, as the mother sought leniency and argued the defendant was on an array of different 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 assessment conducted by the Department of Corrections.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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