(NewsNation) — The Florida teen due to be sentenced for the vicious attack on a teacher’s aide last year is suing his school for failing to help him deal with numerous problems.
His attorneys say the Flagler County School District knew that Brendan Depa was a “ticking time bomb” who suffered from autism, ADHD, mood disorder and other issues.
The now-18-year-old was captured on surveillance video in February of last year beating teacher’s aide Joan Naydich, leaving her with five broken ribs, a severe concussion and hearing loss.
Surveillance footage from the school shows the student walking fast toward Naydich and pushing her several feet, knocking her to the floor and rendering her unconscious.
Then, the student is seen kicking and punching Naydich several times in the back and head, according to a news release from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Police say the reason the student attacked Naydich is because he was upset she took his Nintendo Switch away from him during class.
Depa pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in October, and will be sentenced this Wednesday. The maximum penalty is 30 years in prison, and the minimum is three years. The judge will have wide latitude in sentencing, since Depa was 17 at the time of the crime but is now a legal adult.
The civil suit claims that Flagler County Schools failed to properly address Depa’s many behavioral and mental issues, failed to properly train the staff at Matanzas High School and failed to supply the legally-required educational support that Depa qualified for.
Leann Depa, Brendan’s mother, says Flagler schools are ignoring the similar needs of many other students.
“This is happening to Brendan, but Brendan represents a lot of other kids who are in the same boat,” she told Flagler Live.
The suit describes the 6’6”, 270-pound teen as a “ticking time bomb,” but it also accuses the school of basically ignoring Depa: applying cookie-cutter discipline, ignoring recommendations in the private reports of psychologists his parents submitted, delaying the development of his legally-mandated Individual Education Program.
“This is against the district accepting someone who they didn’t have the resources for, and they didn’t provide the resources,” Leann Depa said. “I think it’s easy when you look at his history and you look at his size, they should have had other resources.”
