A teacher who was brutalised by a 17-year-old student after she confiscated his Nintendo Switch has finally spoken out about the ordeal, after footage of the incident went viral earlier this year:
JUST IN: Florida teen who beat a teacher unconscious for taking away his Nintendo has pleaded guilty to the felony charge against him.
Brendan Depa faces up to 30 years in prison for the brutal beating. His sentence will be determined in January.
The teacher Joan Naydich is… pic.twitter.com/cITJlW82dD
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 1, 2023
Brendan Depa, who is an 6ft 6, 270lbs monster of a lad, has been charged with first-degree aggravated battery and will be tried as an adult seeing as he turned 18 while in custody. Interestingly, Depa has some mitigating circumstances: he’s been diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Mood Dysregulation Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Anxiety. His therapist reported that he was the emotional maturity of a 4 to 6-year-old. So I guess the last thing you want to do to a kid like that is take away his Nintendo Switch in front of the whole class.
This week, victim Joan Naydich – who has refused to help lighten Depa’s sentence – has given her first major interview since being beaten unconscious nearly a year ago.
She told the NY Post: “The last thing I remember is having my hand on the door handle. I don’t remember anything [else] until 3.30pm when I came to. And at that point I was in the ER and my son and daughter were standing there.”
Naydich first encountered Depa in January 2022 in a special needs classroom. For more than a year, she never sensed any physical threat from Depa: “He would try to intimidate. But during that school year it never got to the point where he became violent. It was just verbal.”
That all changed when Depa pulled out his Nintendo Switch in class and started playing on it, which also distracted other students. Naydich informed Depa’s next teacher about the issue and had his Switch confiscated.
She adds: “That’s when he started calling me names. The energy changed in there. I just wanted to remove myself from it. I didn’t want to get into it with him.”
Depa then approached Naydich and spat in her face. She then turned to open the door – which was her last memory before waking up in hospital
Amazingly, while Depa faces 30 years in prison, he may also get off with just probation, given his mental deficiencies and all. We’ll have to see what the courts decide at his sentencing next month.
For the teacher who asked a student “if you’re so eager to fight me, then why don’t you?” and then immediately regretted it, click HERE.
