Harrowing footage released by a Florida teacher shows the brutal facial injuries she suffered at the hands of a 270-pound teenager at the school where she worked as a teaching assistant.
Joan Naydich was violently attacked in February by Brendan Depa, then 17, at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, 60 miles south of Jacksonville, after she told him to stop playing his Nintendo Switch.
The 6ft 4in autistic teenager, now 18, was seen punching and kicking the teacher in the back and head until she lay unconscious on the floor. He pleaded no contest as an adult to first-degree aggravated battery.
Now that he will be sentenced on January 31, Naydich has called on the judge to give him the maximum prison sentence of 30 years.
Her injuries included five broken ribs, concussion and hearing loss. The new photos show wounds on the assistant’s cheek, bruises around the eyes, one bloodshot eye, a dent in her nose and a laceration to the back of her ear.
In a new interview with Fox Orlando, Naydich said the worst injuries were internal and that the attack had deeply affected her cognitive functions. “Unfortunately, I will carry a lot of my injuries, which are not visible, for the rest of my life,” she said.
Florida teacher Joan Naydich was violently attacked by Brendan Depa, then 17, at Matanzas High School in February after she told him to stop playing his Nintendo Switch
Naydich suffered five broken ribs, a severe concussion and hearing loss in one of her ears after the attack
Naydich claims she has been forced to live off donations after being put on unpaid leave by the school
Depa will appear in a Florida court on October 30 after pleading not guilty to first-degree aggravated assault
Naydich was placed on unpaid leave shortly after returning to work in August under a different title and has been living on community charities.
Her revelation comes weeks before a court hearing in which Depa will be sentenced and Naydich calls on the former student to be imprisoned for a maximum of thirty years.
Naydich suffered five broken ribs, a severe concussion and hearing loss in one of her ears after the attack.
“I was attacked on February 21st and I feel like I’m constantly being attacked,” she told Fox Orlando.
The educator said she has struggled to get her workers’ compensation case resolved.
She claimed she returned to work in August under a different title but was placed on unpaid leave just a few days later.
Naydich said she is frustrated by the lack of support from the Flagler County School District. She revealed that she hasn’t watched the video since it was released and she doesn’t want to.
Naydich said Depa was angry at another staff member for not allowing him to play his Nintendo Switch.
She confirmed that she had not taken his device from him before the attack.
She has visited several doctors looking for a diagnosis for some of the neurological symptoms she now has.
Depa was seen punching and kicking the teacher in the back and head until she lay unconscious on the ground
Naydich claimed that her speech had slowed, she had problems with patience and often had difficulty with routine cognitive functions
“Anyone who knows or knew me (before the attack) knows that I am a completely different person now,” she said. ‘My whole life turned upside down.’
Naydich claimed that her speech had slowed, she had problems with patience and often had difficulty with routine cognitive functions.
Depa has pleaded no contest to the charges and now faces a prison sentence of up to 30 years, which is what Naydich wants.
She said she is willing to speak out at trial if necessary.
“I want to make sure he can’t walk the streets freely,” she added.
“I have no idea what the closure looks like at this point. I just want to be whole again.”
Depa had three previous battery arrests before the attack in February and was involved in a prison fight in September, the Post reported.
He was led into court in handcuffs in Florida on October 30, wearing an orange jumpsuit, to plead guilty to the charges. The minimum recommended prison sentence is just under three years.
His lawyer, Kurt Teifke, tried to have him declared incompetent to stand trial because he is autistic.
Naydich said she is frustrated by the lack of support from the Flagler County School District and is living off donations from the community.
Depa is currently being held in the Flagler County Jail on a $1 million bond and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 31.
A court-appointed psychologist ruled that Depa was in fact competent to stand trial and Judge Terence Perkins will decide his fate early next year.
Depa’s family had hoped to keep the prison sentence as short as possible or eliminate it altogether and instead focus on their son’s probation and treatment, but the prosecutor appears unwilling to negotiate.
Naydich has also shown ‘no interest in softening the penalties that Depa could face’.
He is currently being held in the Flagler County Jail on a $1 million bond and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 31.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Flagler County School District for comment.