Brendan Depa, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound Black teenager who brutally assaulted a teacher’s aide in Florida last year, was sentenced to five years in state prison and 15 years of probation on Tuesday, despite the pleas of his adoptive mother to let him stay home and get treatment for his severe autism and other behavioral disorders.
The 18-year-old was facing up to 30 years in prison for aggravated battery against Joan Naydich, a paraprofessional at his high school in Palm Coast, whom he knocked unconscious, punched and kicked after she denied him access to a video game controller on Feb. 21, 2023. He pleaded no contest.
A shocking viral video of the attack quickly branded Depa a “monster schoolboy” and served as compelling evidence in the case that the state brought against him.
Naydich, 59, suffered five broken ribs, a herniated disk, a concussion and loss of hearing after Depa kicked and punched her 15 times.
“Unfortunately, a lot of my injuries that are not visible I’m going to have for the rest of my life,” Naydich testified at the first of two sentencing hearings in May.
Naydich said that Depa became angry during a cybersecurity class after she asked another teacher to tell him to put away his Nintendo Switch because it was disruptive. He called Naydich “nasty names” and spit on her. She then left the classroom, and Depa followed her out into the hallway and assaulted her.
“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,” she told the court at the sentencing hearing.
“Everything was taken away from me that morning,” she said. “I think Brendan should pay for what he did. There are consequences in life to bad actions, bad choices. He made the choice that day to come after me.”
At issue in the criminal prosecution against Depa was how great a role his autism spectrum disorder and behavioral disabilities played in the assault and whether or not he was mentally competent and capable of controlling himself.
Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark argued that Depa had previously shown the ability to control himself with periods of good behavior at a group home.
“He almost killed a woman. He should be punished for that,” she said, reported the Daytona Beach News Journal.
“He pummeled an unconscious woman,” Clark said. “But for those five people pulling him off, I don’t think she would be here today.”
Depa’s lawyer initially argued he should be tried as a juvenile since he attacked Naydich when he was still 17. Clark disagreed, citing his history of violence. Judge Terence Perkins sided with Clark, saying Depa had numerous prior battery charges.
Clark asked for seven years of prison time for Depa, followed by a longer period of strict supervision.
In May, the state called Dr. Greg Prichard, a psychologist, who testified that Depa had been diagnosed with autism, intermittent explosive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other disorders. He said that Depa was of average intelligence, with an IQ of 97, but dangerous.
In response to a query from defense attorney Kurt Tiefke, he said Depa’s attack on Naydich “very likely was a manifestation of his emotional behavioral disability and his tendency to overreact aggressively to perceived slights.”
“It sounds like we are here to determine what is the price to be paid for actions that are a result of a disability,” Tiefke said.
Prichard responded that he was not sure if that was “a fair characterization or not. … I think he had some control — certainly more than he showed,” Prichard said.
During a competency hearing in June, Dr. Jessica Anderton, a psychologist called by the defense, said Depa was schizophrenic, had auditory hallucinations, and was not competent to proceed.
Both Anderton and Roger Davis, a court-appointed psychologist, testified that Depa posed a danger to himself and others and should be placed in a secure facility if the judge were to rule him incompetent.
Anderton said it was a “huge concern” that his isolation while incarcerated could make his autism worse.
Perkins ruled in June that Depa was mentally competent and the legal case against him could proceed.
At the sentencing hearing this week, Leanne Depa testified she had told the school about her son’s mental and emotional needs and vulnerabilities and about his history of violent outbursts.
In a separate legal claim against the Flagler County School Board in April, lawyers for Depa argued that the school district “failed this student before the incident occurred. The student’s disabilities, triggers and problem behaviors were well known,” and the district’s failure to address his needs “led to the violent incident with the paraprofessional.”
The complaint said that Depa’s family, who adopted him when he was 5 months old, has struggled to afford supportive care for him over the years. They could not find a private residential treatment facility in central Florida that also provided education. In 2021, they said, they were forced to enroll their son in Matanzas High School, a public school.
As federal law dictates, the school district created an IEP, or Individualized Education Plan, for Depa to address his special needs, including the academic and behavioral support services he required. But the school did not follow it, his attorneys and parents allege.
At his high school, over a two-year period, Depa got into fights with other students and school staff, incidents that included spitting, pushing, and threatening school staff. He was suspended from school several times, but the school district made no changes to his behavioral plan.
“The district failed to provide the direct instruction, supports and services to teach [Depa] how to not only function in the school setting but how to regulate his emotions, communicate his wants and needs,” the complaint stated.
Naydich, the paraprofessional assigned to support Depa in the school, had no special training to work with students with special needs, reported the Miami Herald.
Disability advocates say it’s common in Florida’s public school system for teacher’s aides who lack training in how to care for students with autism, impulse control issues and other special needs — including how to deescalate conflicts — to be put in charge of their care. This can lead to violent incidents like the one involving Depa and Naydich, said Ann Siegel of Disability Rights Florida, an advocacy group.
The complaint described Depa as a “ticking time bomb” whose needs, despite many concerns and warnings, were “completely disregarded” by the district.
“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,” Leanne Depa told the court this week during her son’s final sentencing hearing.
“I knew Brendan, and I knew his triggers, and I knew his needs and his strengths, and I beg you to let him come home with me,” she said, asking that he be sentenced to house arrest instead of going to jail. “I don’t think he’ll survive prison.”
Autism expert Kimberly Spence testified that Depa needs mental health intervention by trained professionals who understand autism.
In testimony broadcast by CourtTV, Spence said her review of his medical history showed that, like many people with autism, he suffered from anxiety and depression, had difficulty managing his emotions and behavior, and was prone to outbursts and aggression.
The Echo group home in Palm Coast, where Depa lived while attending high school, was aware of his history, including a fixation on computer games and electronics. The staff there had advised Flagler County school officials during an IEP meeting that they’d had to call in a crisis team to remove electronics from Depa.
Spence said it was shocking to her that “any school or program would continue to allow him to have a gaming system,” given that history.
A recent study conducted at the University of California Davis MIND Institute showed that autistic youth who spent more time playing video games than average exhibited greater aggression and social impairment.
The judge also heard from retired special education teacher Eugene Lopes, who said he had been voluntarily tutoring Depa in jail since his arrest and had seen significant progress over eight months, noting that Depa was more mature, more patient. Lopes pledged to continue supporting Depa “for the long haul,” especially if he was sentenced to community-based options.
Depa’s defense team asked the judge to sentence him to a juvenile justice home, where he could get the medical and psychological support he needs, for two years until he turns 21.
Perkins said he could not ignore “the senseless, extreme violence” committed by Depa and the severe injuries he inflicted on Naydich.
After sentencing Depa to serve five years in prison and 15 years of supervised probation upon release, he also ordered the Florida Department of Corrections to conduct a full mental health assessment of Depa and to create a plan to care for his disabilities while he’s incarcerated.
“They are punishing that he is Black, they are punishing that he is large, and they are punishing his disability,” Leanne Depa said after the hearing, according to the Daytona Beach News Journal.
“I think he needs help,” she said. “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.”
