Article / Archive
The mother of the hulking Florida teen who beat his female teacher unconscious over a Nintendo Switch video game claimed prison time would be a “death sentence” for her convicted son.
Leanne Depa pleaded for leniency for the now-18-year-old Brendan Depa, who faces up to 30 years behind bars for slamming Matanzas High School paraprofessional Joan Naydich to the floor before kicking and punching her in the back and head more than a dozen times.
In her first public appearance since the February beatdown, the grieving mother Wednesday begged Naydich to request that the 6-foot-6 teenager be handed a lighter punishment.
“I am so sorry for what my son did and nobody should ever have to go through that,” Leanna Depa said on an appearance on NewsNation’s “Banfield” through tears.
“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.”
Brendan Depa pleaded guilty last month to beating Naydich over the video game when he was just 17, leaving her with five broken ribs, hearing loss and what she claims are ongoing cognitive problems.
The disturbing incident — and teachers’ futile attempts to stop the attack — was captured on the school’s surveillance footage.
Brendan Depa faces up to 30 years in prison for the brutal attack. Nigel Cook/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Naydich has previously told NewsNation that she wants her attacker sentenced to the maximum of 30 years behind bars.
“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,” Leanne Depa said.
The mourning mom blamed a laundry list of mental disabilities and a history of childhood trauma for her son’s behavior — and questioned why he was even permitted inside the Florida public school.
Leanne Depa pleaded for leniency for her son during a NewsNation interview. NewsNation
Leanne Depa claimed that jail time would be a “death sentence” for her autistic teenager. Leanne Depa
Brendan Depa — who grapples with severe autism, ADHD, oppositional defiance disorder and reactive explosive disorder — was placed in the school by his intensive behavioral group home despite his time at an autism behavioral hospital just two years earlier, she said.
“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,” Leanne Depa said.
“I never thought he belonged in public school. I didn’t have a choice.”
Leanne Depa added that he should have never been near the Nintendo Switch during school hours and that a crisis team is typically called before professionals take the game away.
Naydich said she had never taken the game away from the teenager, but that he lashed out after another faculty member prohibited him from playing with it.
Brendan Depa’s behavioral issues, particularly his autism, do not constitute a defense in Florida, according to the mother.
Victim Joan Naydich said she wants her attacker to receive the maximum sentence of 30 years behind bars. David Tucker\News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
The teenager was initially charged as a juvenile before the federal raps were upgraded.
The troubled teen had three prior battery arrests before the assault on Naydich and was reportedly involved in a jail fight in September.
Brendan Depa is being held on a $1 million bond. His sentencing hearing will begin in January.
Here's a bonus for you, sick bastards.
