When a teen was given a five-year prison sentence in court for viciously beating a teaching assistant senseless, he was observed tossing his head back. Last year, horrifying video of Brendan Depa slamming Matanzas High School employee Joan Naydich to the ground and then hitting and kicking her went viral.
The 6-foot-6, 270-pound teenager struck the teacher 15 times before school personnel had to detain her due to a head injury she received in the fall.
When police came on the scene to take Depa into custody, they discovered the instructor seriously injured on the ground. The teenager claimed to be angry with Naydich for taking away his Nintendo Switch to the police. Anger-based battery was the charge brought against him.
The 18-year-old Depa was given a sentence on Tuesday; he could have spent up to 30 years in state prison. The teenager had entered a previous plea of not guilty to the charges in October, but Circuit Judge Terence Perkins requested additional witness testimony, leading to the scheduling of a new sentencing date.
Brendan Depa’s reaction to his punishment
Depa threw back his head as Perkins told the court that the juvenile would receive an adult term during the sentencing, which was aired on Court TV. The adolescent might have spent up to 30 years in jail on this charge.
Depa received a sentence of five years in jail and fifteen years on probation.
The judge stated that Depa, who will be in his 20s by then, will be placed in a group home upon his release, where he will continue to get mental health care.
Expert in autism disorders Kimberly Spence was brought in by the defense during the trial, and she informed the judge that Depa is “neurologically compromised,” according to Court TV.
The judge disapproved of Depa’s team’s recommendation that he be punished as a juvenile instead of being tried as an adult due to the violent nature of the incident.
The teaching assistant suffered numerous injuries, including a concussion, five broken ribs, and herniated disks in her back, according to Perkins’ verdict.
