Hulking 6ft 6in boy, 17, who viciously beat his teaching aide unconscious is seen shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit in court for the first time as he's charged as an adult

Daily Mail UK ^ | October 30, 2023 | Emma James

[Morgana]

A teenage boy accused of punching and kicking his teaching assistant in a row over a Nintendo Switch has appeared in court and charged as an adult - after being arrested for battery three times in 2019.

Brendan Depa, now 18 but who was 17 at the time of the alleged beating was led shackled into court in Florida wearing an orange jumpsuit on Monday to face charges of aggravated battery - a felony.

He allegedly attacked teaching assistant Joan Naydich, 57, at Matanzas High School on February 21. The savage assault was caught on school surveillance cameras.

The 6'6" and 270lb student was caught viciously beating the 'humble' mother-of-two until she was unconscious, with Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly warning it 'could have been a homicide'.

In shocking video he is seen knocking Naydich to the ground before kicking and punching the unconscious woman at least 15 times in the back and head.

Those convicted of aggravated battery of a school board official in Florida can face up to 30 years in jail for the first-degree felony. The minimum recommended prison sentence is just short of three years.

Depa will be sentenced at the end of January. His own lawyer, Kurt Teifke, sought to have him declared incompetent to stand trial, because he is autistic.

A court-appointed psychologist found Depa was in fact competent to stand trial and Circuit Judge Terence Perkins will decided his fate early next year.

On Monday he pleaded 'no contest' to the charges against him.

Judge Perkins could sentence him either as an adult or as a juvenile offender.

[Enten]

I suspect that you are correct.

[Tired of Taxes]

This case has nothing to do with absent fathers.

This student has a married father and mother - both white - who adopted and raised him. They homeschooled him when he was young. But, he was born intellectually disabled. Many intellectually disabled kids act out, sometimes violently. When he reached his teen years, he grew very big and difficult to control.

So, his parents placed him in an institution. But, the insurance refused to continue to pay for his institutional care, so the parents were forced to find a group home for him. At the group home, he was required to attend school, even though his parents didn’t think he should.

Here’s the real kicker: He’s not the only special ed student in that school system to attack someone. He’s just the only one who attacked an aide in the hallway where a video caught the attack.

Two other special ed students - both white - both legal adults (18) - attacked people in the same school system, and they got a slap on the wrist. But, this student is facing 30 years?

Bring back the state hospitals. Intellectually disabled students who act out violently shouldn’t be in school, but they shouldn’t be in prison, either. They should be institutionalized.

Here’s the adoptive mother’s article: https://flaglerlive.com/brendan-depa-my-son-story/#gsc.tab=0

Here’s the article about the other two students: https://flaglerlive.com/depa-disparities/#google_vignette

[Midwesterner53]

20 years without parole would be a good start.

[DMD13]

If Obama had a son.

[Tired of Taxes]

His lawyer is right. See my post #22 above.

[Morgana]

“The blacktivists are going to show up and you’ll also have the obligatory media hacks pleading for mercy as well.”

Not just the blacktivists but autism awareness groups. Yes he really has it, and when he attacked the teacher he was in a special ed class for that. So much for mainstreaming all it does is put teachers and other kids at risk of this.

[Bullish]

Good info... I didn’t know all that about this particular case and yes, I’m guilty of not reading the entire piece.

[daku]

Maje sure he has his vaccinations before he is incarcerated, for his own safety of course.

[Vendome]

I know someone who is autistic and there is a possibility for this to happen.

They don’t have the same emotional control we have but, they do have a conscience

I hope he receives the care he needs

Sorry for the teacher

[healy61]

There was a meme: Ma’am, we have tested your son for everything. We can’t find a single thing wrong. Fact is, your son is just a plain asshole.

[know.your.why]

I found this "Confessions of a Public Defender" very insightful...

https://www.amren.com/features/2014/05/confessions-of-a-public-defender/

[Tired of Taxes]

I didn’t read the article, either. I just happened to find more information elsewhere about this case. I wish all news articles gave us the full story, but they never do.

[alexander_busek]

The problem with that is, most of the time you wouldn't want the guys who sired these boys to be any where near your households. They're violent, irresponsible drug addicts and gangsters in most inner city cases.

The mothers who voluntarily choose those "sires" can't be much better.

Regards,

[mabarker1]

}{€££ !!! That went out the door with that terrorscum shooter at FT. Hood. What was that POS’s name hassan or some crap 💩💩💩💩?

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Jail is good if the stay is long, very long.

[sam_adams_mom]

To all of you who do not have a child with autism, I suggest you take a big step back and stop posting such vicious remarks about a person who cannot control himself. He does not belong in jail, nor does did he belong in school. Young men of this size do not belong in a classroom if the adults in charge of him cannot physically control him, if he become s upset I have an adult son with autism. There are no little behavioral or no behavior health resources for a young man who resides in Florida(once they turn 18 there are no resources). The behavior health facilities in my area, have no training to deal with people with autism. The only solution they have is to drug people into a stupor. Finally, I would like to say that the impact of forced isolation during COVID has severely many young persons who have autism and mental health issues, especially my family.

[NorthMountain]

We used to have insane asylums for people like this, and we used to put people in them before they committed serious violent crimes.

This individual has already committed a serious violent crime, and prison is where he belongs whether you like it or not.

[Ex-Con777]

> So it’s really a self perpetuating problem without hope of a cure. <

Margaret Sanger came up with a “cure” but that part of history is lost on the libtards.

EC

[GranTorino]

Thanks for the info.

[sam_adams_mom]

I read the article and can relate to what to the experiences the family of the man have experienced. Florida law requires that a student with these type of disabilities has the right to stay in a high school until age 22. The problem is. it really does not help the student. There are no separate classes for someone this age. My son who is very good at math(was in main stream math), but only has second or third grade reading skills, was kept in the same ESE class with children aged 14, which was not appropriate for an 19-21 year old man. We had issues as soon as he started his senior year, which was the fall of COVID. Wearing a mask all day freaked him out and caused him to react severely. He graduated, but it was a struggle. He landed up only taking 2 classes as he had already met all of his graduation requirements, because his behavior changed for the worse at school. He remained in school(allowed by law in Florida), after he graduated and things took a turn for the worse. He dropped out of the program last year. His behavior in the meantime got worse and worse. He is stable now, but due to medications he has gained 90 plus pounds(needs to lose about 70 pounds—he was previously underweight due to not eating and stress induced vomiting). My husband had to change his work routine and took almost 5 months paid leave(has lots of vacation time accumulated) to help me with our son. I am thankful that he can do some of his work from home. Does this young man, who has the mind a child (who assaulted the teacher) deserve to be thrown in a prison where he can be abused or raped by prisoners who are not intellectually or mentally disabled? He does not belong out in public, but certainly should not be in a “main strea,” state prison.