Video of the brutal beating of a female teacher by a male student in February, 2023, shocked social media users when it circulated. Now the 18-year-old student who beat teacher aide Joan Naydich into unconsciousness will spend five years in state prison.
Brendan Depa, who is euphemistically described as “special needs,” punched the 59-year-old woman dozens of times in the head and body. Photos after the incident show her face covered in enormous bruises, and capillaries were broken in her eyes. By the time Brendan got done with the beating, Naydich was lying on the floor like a broken doll, unconscious.
All of this over a video game device. Naydich apparently took Brendan’s Nintendo Switch away from him, which sent the teenager into a rage. At 17 years old, Brendan was already six feet, six inches tall, and weighed 270 pounds. At the time of his arrest he was a minor, but he is 18 and legally an adult now.
The incident occurred at Matanzas High School in a Florida town near Daytona Beach.
In October of last year, Brendan pleaded “no contest” to charges of aggravated battery. A no contest plea means the defendant does not concede guilt, but he acknowledges that the state has enough evidence to convict him. Given the video evidence, there is no doubt what the hulking, out of control young man did to Naydich.
The victim testified in the case, telling the court that she lost her job, her livelihood, and her health insurance as a result of the brutal attack. Naydich argued Brendan should get the maximum of 30 years in prison.
But the court disagreed, being partially persuaded by testimony from Brendan Depa’s mother and his defense team. Leann Depa, Brendan’s adoptive mother, infuriated people online when the incident occurred by acting as though her son was a victim who was failed by others instead of a violent perpetrator who nearly killed a woman.
During her testimony, Leann continued to shift responsibility for Brendan’s attack onto anyone other than Brendan. She claims she told the school that her son has multiple “triggers” which make him violent. According to what she says, there seem to be few things that do not trigger Brendan.
Taking away his electronic games is a trigger, Leann said. So is being hungry, hearing noise, “being told ‘no’”, and “being corrected in front of other people.”
Surprisingly, the perp himself hired a legal team to sue the school district for negligence for not better “protecting” him from triggers.
On the day of the attack, Naydich knew she did not want to provoke the man-sized teen, so she asked another adult to take away his video game. When Brendan learned of this, he spat on Naydich and called her a b*tch and a wh*re.
Adding insult to injury, Brendan Depa’s lawyers tried to make Naydich into the perpetrator by claiming that she failed in her duty to cater to his needs caused by alleged autism.
