The mother of the burly Florida teenager who beat his teacher unconscious over a Nintendo Switch video game said the prison sentence would be a “death sentence” for her convicted son.
Leanne Depa pleaded for clemency for Brendan Depa, now 18, who faces up to 30 years behind bars for throwing Matanzas High School teacher’s aide Joan Naydich to the ground before kicking and punching her in the back and in the head more than a dozen. times.
In her first public appearance since the February beating, the grieving mother on Wednesday pleaded with Naydich to request that the 6-foot-6 teen receive a lighter punishment.
“I am so sorry for what my son did and no one should have to go through that,” Leanna Depa said through tears in an appearance on NewsNation’s “Banfield.”
“But at the same time, consider that my son has had a difficult life and has gone through a lot of trauma in his life. He has autism. Please have mercy on him.”
Brendan Depa pleaded guilty last month to beating Naydich in the video game when she was just 17 years old, leaving her with five broken ribs, hearing loss and what she claims are ongoing cognitive problems.
The disturbing incident, and the teachers’ futile attempts to stop the attack, were captured on the school’s surveillance footage.
Brendan Depa faces up to 30 years in prison for the brutal attack. Nigel Cook/News-Journal / RED USA TODAY
Naydich previously told NewsNation that he wants his attacker sentenced to a maximum of 30 years behind bars.
“I feel like if he gets sentenced to prison, it would be a death sentence for him. He is scared. And for his son to call and cry and say, ‘I don’t want to die,’ it’s horrible,” Leanne Depa said.
The grieving mother blamed a long list of mental disabilities and a history of childhood trauma for her son’s behavior, and questioned why he was even allowed to enter Florida public school.
Leanne Depa asked for leniency for her son during a NewsNation interview. NewsNation Leanne Depa claimed jail time would be a “death sentence” for her autistic teenager. Leanne Depa
Brendan Depa, who struggles with severe autism, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder and explosive reactive disorder, was placed in school by his intensive behavioral group home despite having been in an autism behavioral hospital for only two years. before, he said.
“I had always schooled him at home because he didn’t handle the school environment. I asked the group home, ‘Did I have to go to public school? Couldn’t you attend school online? And they assured me that all of their clients went to public school,” Leanne Depa said.
“I never thought I belonged in public school. “I had no other option.”
Leanne Depa added that she should never have been around the Nintendo Switch during school hours and that a crisis team is usually called in before professionals take away the game.
Naydich said she had never taken the game away from the teenager, but that he lashed out after another faculty member forbade her from playing with him.
Brendan Depa’s behavioral problems, particularly his autism, are not a defense in Florida, according to the mother.
Victim Joan Naydich said she wants her attacker to receive the maximum sentence of 30 years behind bars. David Tucker\News Journal / RED USA TODAY
The teen was initially charged as a juvenile before federal charges were updated.
The troubled teen had three arrests for assault before the assault on Naydich and was reportedly involved in a jailhouse fight in September.
Brendan Depa is being held on $1 million bail. His sentencing hearing will begin in January.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn