Florida teen caught on video brutally beating teacher's aide sentenced to 5 years in prison despite adoptive mother's pleas

The Florida teenager who made national headlines in 2023 for brutally beating a teacher's aide has been sentenced to five years in state prison.

Brendan Depa was caught on surveillance video Feb. 21 knocking down his 57-year-old victim before brutally pummeling her on the floor as bystanders watched at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast. He was 17 years old at the time.

'I beg you to let him come home with me.'

Depa was sentenced Tuesday to prison despite the pleas from his adoptive mother. The victim, Joan Naydich, testified in support of Depa facing a steep sentence.

“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,” Naydich said.

The arrest report said the 270-pound, 6'6'' student punched Naydich 15 times. She suffered five broken ribs, a concussion, vision and hearing loss, and has been diagnosed with PTSD.

Depa reportedly beat the woman after his Nintendo Switch was taken away, leading many online to blame the victim and excuse his actions based on his autism diagnosis. Naydich later said she never took away the teen's video game.

“For all you keyboard warriors, I just want to set the record straight. I never took the Nintendo Switch from him. From anyone that's read or heard differently, I've been told this was unfortunately misinformation,” Naydich wrote.

Leanne Depa, the student’s mother, argued in court that the school had disregarded her warnings about his triggers, which included noise, being told no, and being corrected in front of other people.

“I knew Brendan, and I knew his triggers, and I knew his needs and his strengths, and I beg you to let him come home with me,” the mother said.

Depa also will undergo 15 years of supervised probation after serving his prison term. He could have faced up to 30 years in prison for the charge.

A GoFundMe campaign has raised over $140,000 for Naydich.

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