A Florida teenager who assaulted a high school teacher’s assistant over a Nintendo Switch was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday.
Brendan Depa, now 18, pleaded not guilty to a felony aggravated assault charge for the assault on paraprofessional Joan Neidich last year.
The teacher suffered five broken ribs, hearing loss and a severe concussion. New York Post report.
Depa, wearing glasses and an orange prisoner-issued jumpsuit, threw his head back as Circuit Judge Terrence Perkins sentenced him for the Feb. 21, 2023, assault that occurred in a hallway at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast.
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Brendan Depa is due in court for his sentencing hearing on August 6, 2024. (David Tucker/News Journal/USA Today Network)
He could face up to 30 years in prison. Daytona Beach News Journal.
The boy was also sentenced to 15 years’ probation and will be placed in a group home upon his release from prison, according to court records.
Depa’s lawyers argued that the boy, who has an autism spectrum disorder, and his age at the time of the attack should mean he should be sentenced to probation only, but their arguments were rejected.
Video of the brutal attack was released by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office:
But Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark said the brutality of the assault merited prison time.
“He hit her 15 times while she was completely unconscious,” Clark testified in court, according to the News Journal. “But without the five people who dragged him down, I don’t think she would be here today.”
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Joan Neidich testified at a March 9, 2023, hearing before seeking a permanent restraining order against Brendan Depa, the Matanzas High School student who assaulted her. (David Tucker/News Journal/USA Today Network)
In the assault, which was captured on surveillance camera and later shared online, the 6-foot-6, 270-pound teenager called Neidich a “whore” and spat in her face before running from the classroom.
Depa, who was 17 at the time, is shown chasing Neidich down a hallway and throwing him to the ground, before Depa stomps on him and punches him multiple times, and Neidich’s body can be seen lying limp on the floor.
The boy’s mother blamed the school district for failing her son.
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Brendan Depa throws teaching assistant Joanne Neidich to the floor over his Nintendo Switch. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)
“They’re punishing him because he’s black, because he’s big, and because he has a disability,” she told The Local after the verdict. “I think he needs help, I think he needs therapy, but I don’t think he should be in prison where he’ll be taken advantage of and harmed.”
Depa filed a lawsuit against the school district, alleging that educators failed to create an adequate treatment plan to address his past violent outbursts and behavioral issues.
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“The school district must be held accountable for failures that have forever changed this young man’s life,” the lawsuit states.
