Schoolboy, cruelly who beat up a teacher over a Nintendo Switch, sentenced to five years in prison (7 photos + 1 video)

A Florida resident who beat a teacher unconscious in February last year has been sentenced. Brendan Depa was 17 years old at the time of the crime.





The American was sentenced to 5 years in prison, he also received 15 years of probation after his release.



18-year-old Brendan Depa

On February 21, 2023, Brendan attacked teaching assistant Joan Naidich in the hallway of Matanzas High School in Palm Coast.

CCTV footage shows the 6-foot-1, 260-pound teenager running toward the teacher, who notices him a split second before he knocks her down. Depa then begins kicking the woman, punching her until he is pulled away.

It turns out Naidich took the teen's console during class.





Joan Naidich in court

A schoolboy with autism spectrum disorder will serve his sentence in prison despite the requests of his mother and lawyer.

"He is being punished for being black, for being big, and for his disability," said the convict's adoptive mother, Leanne Depa, after the sentencing.



Depa threw a total of 15 punches

"I think he needs help, he needs treatment. But I don't think he should be put in jail where he'll be used or harmed."

"I told the school that hunger was a trigger, noise, the word 'no', being told in front of other people - all of that was making him angry and the games were making it worse," Leanne added.



The judge took into account the fact that Depa had been accused of battery in the past.



Naidich after the attack

Naidich claims the student spat in her face and called her a "slut."

"I don't remember anything until 3:30 p.m., when I came to. At that moment, I was in the emergency room, and my son and daughter were standing next to me."



Lianne Depa, foster mother of convicted felon

The woman admitted to suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following the attack.

"Because of Brendan Depa's actions, I lost my job of almost 19 years, my financial security, my health insurance," the teacher said at a hearing in May.

"At 10 o'clock that day, everything was taken away from me. My life will never be the same."



Judge Terence Perkins, Associate Justice Melissa Clark and defense attorney Kurt Teifke converse during the sentencing of Brendan Depa on August 6, 2024