The mother of a Florida teenager who beat his teacher into unconsciousness over a Nintendo Switch is speaking out about the horrific attack.
While expressing empathy for the educator and apologizing for her son’s action, she aims to raise awareness about the gravity of his autism. Due to his developmental challenges, she contends that sentencing him to jail would be tantamount to a ‘death sentence.’
Leanne Depa is pleading with the courts to show leniency in the legal proceedings concerning her son, Brendan Depa.
The 18-year-old is facing up to a 30-year prison sentence for pushing Joan Naydich, a paraprofessional at the Matanza High School, in Palm Coast, Florida, to the floor in a hallway and brutally punching and kicking her while she was down.
Brendan with the support of his legal team pleaded no contest as an adult for first-degree aggravated battery last month.
Surveillance video of the Feb. 21 incident shows the 6-foot-6, 270-pound teen, who was 17 years old at the time, pummeling the older woman in her head and on her back repeatedly.
The teen was playing with the video game system during class and one of the professionals attempted to take it away. The teen lashed out at Naydich, despite her not being the teacher who intervened.
The woman sustained five broken ribs, hearing loss, and claims that she has been experiencing cognitive problems since the attack.
“I was attacked on February 21st and I feel like I’m just constantly being attacked,” she said, adding in an interview with Fox 35, “Everybody that knows me or knew me [before the attack], knows that I’m a totally different person now,” she said. “My whole life was just turned upside down.”
Other teachers tried to jump in and stop Brendan from attacking Naydich but to no avail.
The mother, who told local outlet Flagler News this summer that Brendan was adopted as an infant, appeared on NewsNation’s “Bandfield” and is hoping her appeal will help her son get a lighter or more just punishment.
“I am so sorry for what my son did and nobody should ever have to go through that,” the mom said, adding, “But at the same time, please consider that my son has had a hard life and he’s gone through so much trauma in his life. He has autism. Please show mercy to him.”
The victim wants the child to receive the maximum sentencing for the crime.
“I feel like if he gets sentenced to prison, it’s a death sentence for him. He’s scared. And to have your child call and cry and say, ‘I don’t want to die’ — it’s awful,” the mother tearfully said in her interview, explaining that her son had a history of IEP that was ignored when his intensive behavioral group home placed him in the Florida public school.
She also said she questioned why he would be placed in the school when the decision was made to move him there.
“I had always homeschooled him because he didn’t handle the school environment. I asked the group home, ‘Did he have to go to public school? Could he not do school online?’ And I was assured by them that all of their clients went to public school,” Depa said. She continued, “I never thought he belonged in public school. I didn’t have a choice.”
According to Leanne, Brendan was clinically diagnosed with autism, ADHD, oppositional defiance disorder, and reactive explosive disorder. His conditions, in his state, cannot be used as a part of his legal defense.
Since Brendan is now a legal adult, he will no longer be charged as a minor. These charges have been upgraded, and he is currently being held on a $1 million bond as he awaits his sentencing hearing in January.
He is considered dangerous. This is not the first of his violent outbursts. He was arrested three times on battery and even was written up for fighting in jail in September 2023.
