Niamh Shackleton
A teenager who beat a teacher's aide unconscious has filed a lawsuit against his school district.
In February 2023, Brendan Depa attacked Joan Naydich at Matanzas High School, Florida.
Naydich says Depa became violent after she flagged to a teacher that he had distracted other students by playing his Nintendo Switch in class.
Advert
Harrowing CCTV footage of the incident shows Depa throw the woman to the ground and proceed to hit and kick her while she was unconscious.
Depa, now 18, went on to be charged first-degree felony charge of aggravated battery and now faces up to 30 years behind bars - to which he pleaded no contest in November 2023.
With Depa potentially facing up to three decades behind bars, his mom, Leanne Depa, has pleaded for leniency because of his autism and known behavioural issues.
Now 18-year-old Depa has filed a suit against Flagler County Public Schools, accusing the district of failing to meet his individual educational and behavioral needs.
Describing Depa as a 'ticking time bomb', the filing also says that the school district didn't intervene to address the teen's bad behavior prior to the February 2023 incident.
It further described electronic devices, such as Depa's Nintendo, as a 'trigger for escalating behaviors' - something the school was reportedly aware of.
"The district should be held to account for its failures which have forever changed the trajectory of this young man’s life," a portion of the lawsuit reads, as per Fox 35 Orlando.
Detailing Depa's learning difficulties and mental health issues, the suit goes on: "[Depa] is smart, but he has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder and has communication deficits that were not properly addressed.
"His explosive nature was also ignored and his need for social and pragmatic language interventions were not sufficiently addressed."
With this in mind, the teenager has filed a request for a due process hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, asking that it's determined that Flagler County Public Schools’ actions before and after Depa's attack on Naydich lead to the violent outburst.
Depa’s attorneys Stephanie Langer and Maria Cammarata also say Naydich 'did not follow the plans and did not utilize an evidence based strategy putting herself in a dangerous situation' and therefore the attack could have been 'avoidable'.
Depa is due to be sentenced tomorrow, May 1.
Flagler County Public Schools declined to comment when approached by UNILAD.