Violent tard beats teacher's aide because she wouldn't let him play his Switch

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The Florida high-school student with autism accused of violently attacking a teacher's aide over a Nintendo game has filed a stunning lawsuit against the school district, accusing it of failing to make interventions to address his bad behavior even though he was said to be a "ticking time bomb."

Brendan Depa, 18, has filed a lawsuit against Flagler County Public Schools, accusing the district of failing to meet his needs in the lead-up to the shocking February 21 incident that was caught on video and went viral.

Depa was 17 when he allegedly attacked teacher's aide Joan Naydich at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast. Surveillance video released by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office allegedly shows the 6-foot-6, 270-pound student running up to the teacher's aide, pushing her to the ground, and then continuing to punch and kick her.

Naydich told FOX 35 Orlando she had suffered five broken ribs, a severe concussion, loss of hearing in one of her ears and other issues as a result of the beating.

The incident was sparked after Depa was refused permission to use a Nintendo Switch console.

The complaint alleges that the district failed to address Depa's disabilities through a proper behavioral plan on multiple occasions, ultimately leading to the attack.

"The district should be held to account for its failures which have forever changed the trajectory of this young man’s life," a portion of the lawsuit reads. (I have a feeling his life trajectory would have been the same if he beat this woman or not: most likely jail)

It says that he has a history of trauma and mental health issues, along with several disabilities that impact him in school settings.

"[Depa] is smart, but he has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and has communication deficits that were not properly addressed. His explosive nature was also ignored and his need for social and pragmatic language interventions were not sufficiently addressed," the lawsuit reads.

The complaint alleges that the school ignored Depa’s need for social and "pragmatic language interventions" and should have provided him with direct instructions on how to problem-solve and express himself. (Ten bucks says this violent psycho is mainstreamed.)

For instance, he spat at a student and verbally threatened another by saying that the student should die. He also said he should have shot a student. The lawsuit argues that the school had not properly dealt with those incidents.

"Had these issues been addressed in real-time, [Depa] would not have harmed the paraprofessional and would not have been arrested and facing significant time incarcerated," the complaint reads.

The suit alleges that a teacher’s aide and Depa exchanged words and that the student was then reprimanded in front of his peers, eventually being punished by being denied the Nintendo though other students were allowed theirs. (Uhhhh, maybe things are different now than when I was in school, but since when is the whole class allowed to bring in their game consoles? That sounds like a good way to get your shit stolen.)

The school, staff and district knew that the Nintendo, and its use on the school campus was a "trigger for escalating behaviors," prompting Depa to spit on Naydich, according to the filing.

When Naydic stormed out of the classroom to report him for assault, Depa followed her and launched his vicious attack.

The teen has filed a request for a due process hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It asks for a determination that Flagler County Public Schools’ actions before and after February 2023 led to the violent incident.

A spokesperson for Flagler Schools tells Fox 35 Orlando that the district is not commenting on the complaint.

Depa, who is being charged as an adult, pleaded no contest late last year to a first-degree felony aggravated battery on an elected official or education employee charge that could be punishable by up to 30 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for May 1, Fox 35 reports.

Naydich has denied taking the Nintendo Switch away from Depa and that he was actually angry because another staff member would not allow him to play it.

As well as physical injuries, Naydich says she has faced financial and emotional hurdles since the attack.

"Unfortunately, a lot of my injuries that are not visible I'm going to have for the rest of my life," Naydich previously told FOX 35 Orlando, referring to slowed speech, issues with patience and "difficulty with what she considers routine cognitive functions."

"Everybody that knows me or knew me [before the attack] knows that I'm a totally different person now. My whole life was just turned upside down."

Naydich was granted a permanent injunction for protection against repeated violence against Depa in March 2023.

Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital show that Depa has had three prior misdemeanor battery charges, in March 2019, April 2019 and June 2019. All the misdemeanor charges stem from the 13th Judicial Circuit, which is located in Hillsborough County.

For those charges, court records show that Depa completed a program within the Department of Juvenile Justice.

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When a directive is not explained to Brendan, he can become argumentative with teachers and refuse to comply. If he begins to escalate he can become verbally and physically aggressive towards his peers and staff. Brendan does not do well with competition, and losing a game can make Brendan extremely upset and can lead to severe aggression. Once Brendan has escalated it can be very difficult to bring him back to base level behavior.

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Echo said that he plays games at home from 5-7 and 8-10. Removing a game is definitely a trigger; if Brendan is playing a game and the house needs to take it away, they will call the crisis team before they ask for the game, because there will be an incident requiring a restraint. [The ESE administrator] said that this information would definitely be useful to know so that MHS was aware of that problem.

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His behavioral plan had some strategies in place that were meant to prevent negative behaviors. Here are three of them:

- Use humor with Brendan and build a positive rapport. Avoid negative/corrective statements even after behaviors targeted for reduction have occurred.

- Do not talk about his behaviors in front of him.

- Avoid correcting, reprimanding, or redirecting Brendan in the presence of peers.

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This is the moment the adoptive mother of a 6ft 6in hulking schoolboy breaks town in tears as she is asking the judge for leniency after her son beat up a teacher who took his Nintendo Switch.

Leanne Depa, who adopted Brendan when he was five months old, started crying as she told the judge during her autistic son's sentencing hearing: 'I beg you to let him come home with me.'

Brendan Depa, who was 17 at the time, brutally tackled teacher's aide Joan Naydich, 59, in February 2023 and unleashed dozens of punches to her body and head, leaving her seriously bruised and unconscious.

Depa, who is 6ft 6ins and 270 pounds, has become a legal adult since the brutal attack he perpetrated at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, Florida, a moderately sized town near Daytona Beach.

He could have faced a prison sentence of 30 years, but will only spend five years behind the bars of a Florida state prison, followed by 15 years of probation. Depa's sentence has caused outrage online, as people call it 'pathetic' and 'not enough'.

Leanne Depa (pictured), who adopted Brendan when he was five months old, started crying as she told the judge during her autistic son's sentencing hearing: 'I beg you to let him come home with me'

Depa's sentence has caused outrage online, as people call it 'pathetic' and 'not enough'

Joan Naydich, 59, the victim of Depa's brutal attack testified against him on May 1, 2024. She has always advocated for him to be locked up for the maximum amount of time, which would have been 30 years

Depa had pleaded no contest to the aggravated battery charges against him in October 2023 and was originally due to be sentenced in May 2024, but the judge delayed the hearing so he could hear from more witnesses. Depa was finally sentenced on Tuesday.

His victim, teacher Naydich, had urged the court to lock up her teenage attacker for the maximum sentence of 30 years.

But the decision from Judge Terence Perkins to give Depa 25 years less than that could have do with the exculpatory testimony that came from his mother and arguments from his defense team.

Leanne Depa told the court: 'Brendan, he has had a hard life,' adding how her son had 'felt abandoned' by her after she sent him to live in a residential treatment facility in North Carolina for a year when he was 14.

The occupational therapist also said: 'He struggles with autism and behavioural issues, but [...] I was able to manage Brandon, because I knew Brandon and I knew his triggers and I knew his needs and his strengths.'

At the residential treatment facility, Depa head-butted staff, punched a doctor and threw a chair, according to Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark.

After the facility, Depa was sent to a group home - where he had to be restrained at one point -, before returning to live with his mother and go to the public school in Palm Coast in 2021.

She said she had warned the school about her son's laundry list of triggers. According to her, 'electronics' was his biggest trigger.

'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,' she said on the stand. (So not being allowed to have his own way all the time is a trigger?)

Lawyers representing him filed a separate lawsuit against the school district for negligence, wherein they described Depa as 'a ticking time bomb.'

Leann Depa, Brendan Depa's adoptive mother, was seen in court Tuesday reacting with tears to her son's five year sentence

On the day of the attack, Naydich requested another teacher take away Depa's gaming console, a Nintendo Switch.

When Depa found out, he allegedly called her a b**ch and a w**re and spat at her as she left the classroom.

That's when a school surveillance camera captured him following her out and ramming into her, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Naydich was completely limp after she was knocked to the floor, but a rage-filled Depa didn't quit, punching her in the head and back 15 times.

Her injuries included five broken ribs, a concussion and a loss of hearing. Pictures released after the beatdown show gashes on the aide's cheek, bruising around the eyes, one blood shot eye, a dent in her nose and a tear at the back of her ear.

Naydich, a mother of two, told the court: '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's also filed a permanent injunction against Depa preventing him from ever coming within 500 feet of her home or place of work.

Naydich said the worst injuries are internal and that the attack deeply affected her cognitive functions.

'Unfortunately, a lot of my injuries that are not visible I'm going to have for the rest of my life,' she said.

Naydich, who was sitting in the gallery at Depa's sentencing, told the court in the hearing in May: 'There are consequences in life to bad actions, bad choices. He made that choice that day to come after me.' (GOOD! These fuckers and their handlers need to learn that just because they're autistic doesn't mean they will never have to face the consequences of their behavior.)

Depa's attorneys tried to turn it around on her, claiming that Naydich failed to address the autistic boy's unique needs and wasn't properly trained to handle him.

Kurt Teifke, one of Depa's lawyers, reportedly referred back to prior testimony that suggested the assault was a manifestation of his disability.

'It's not his fault,' Teifke said.

Judge Perkins didn't buy it, citing the brutality captured in the video and adding that Depa's attack on Naydich was not an isolated incident.

'It captures the senseless, extreme violence in a very troubling way,' Perkins said, commenting on the video.

In his sentencing, Perkins also cited testimony from a state witness, a psychologist, who said Depa knew what he did was wrong, and that Depa did not express remorse at any point.

Depa's mother pleaded with the judge to let her son serve house arrest, telling him: 'I think he needs help, and I think he needs treatment.'

But Depa was sentenced to five years in state prison as well as 15 years of supervised probation.

On X, users voiced their frustrations over Depa's sentence, with one saying that it 'should be at least 10', while another said Depa battering his teacher was 'attempted murder'

Judge Perkins also ordered that the Florida Department of Corrections conduct a full mental health evaluation of Depa and develop a treatment plan for his disabilities, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.

After her son was sent to prison, Leanne Depa told reporters he is being punished for being black, for being large and for being disabled.

While his mother had hoped for her son not serving any prison time, the public is outraged at him not being incarcerated for more than five years.

On X, users voiced their frustrations over Depa's sentence, with one saying that it 'should be at least 10', while another said Depa battering his teacher was 'attempted murder'.

'That was a brutal beating. He got off easy with just five years but I bet with a temper like he has he will end up violating that parole and be sent back to prison,' a third person said.

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mumofsixbirds
The overuse of trauma and trigger really pisses me off to no end. Not everything is a trigger. Not everything is that fucking traumatizing. That kind of stupid talk is what invalidates people who truly suffer with this disorder.

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twocents
it's amazing how many mentals and tards can control their behaviour if their little assholes are whipped when they act out.

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reeniebessagain
There was a book about that. Something like "Why Does he Act That Way". It was written by a man who led groups of male abusers. The conclusion he came to was-- he does it because he knows he can. As in, the first time the woman "forgave" his abuse and let him cry on her shoulder, he took one more step toward violence. And so on. And I could relate.

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mumofsixbirds
No wonder people are leaving the teaching profession. It's not even just the awtards who are violent. Kids in general have become crazy due to lack of discipline and they're not going to do well when they're adults. When I was a kid in the stone age (the 70s) I was bullied a lot too but I never saw the little fuckers go after a teacher. There was still some fear there. Now, the parents just back up their brats and let them get away with murder.

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Cambion
And my English teacher my senior year begged me to go into teaching because she thought I wrote well and could do it. I had more than one person tell me all throughout my twenties that I "need" to teach because "it's a gravy job that pays a ton and you get summers off." I have never been so glad to have not listened to people.

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kittehpeoples
I had a professor who told me she could see me teaching. I said I had no interest in it and pretty much hated kids, and she agreed and said, "Oh, nothing lower than college!"

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mumofsixbirds
I don't know how there's little to no protection for teachers who have to deal with this.