Tearful mother of Brendan Depa, the hulking 6ft 6in autistic boy who brutally beat teacher’s aide unconscious over Nintendo Switch, says ‘prison is a death sentence’ as she breaks her silence and pleads with victim to show mercy

The mother of a 6-foot-2 autistic teenager who knocked out a teacher’s aide in Florida has claimed prison is a “death sentence” for her son.

Leanne Depa spoke out for the first time since Brendan Depa, then 17, violently attacked Joan Naydich at Matanzas High School in February after being told to stop playing his Nintendo Switch.

The 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.

“I’m terrified for my child,” Leanne tearfully told NewsNation’s Banfield. “I feel like if he is sentenced to prison, it will be a death sentence for him.

She apologized to Naydich for the attack but begged her to “show mercy” after the victim called for the teenager to be locked up for up to 30 years.

Brendan will be sentenced for the attack on Naydich, which left her with five broken ribs, a severe concussion and hearing loss in one of her ears.

The teacher’s assistant claimed she was placed on unpaid leave shortly after returning to work in August under a different title and was living off a community charity. Her gofundme campaign has raised $120,000 so far.

Naydich has been outspoken in her call for the teenager to be given the harshest possible sentence.

But his mother Leanne has begged her to show him mercy. “I’m so sorry for what my son did,” she said.

“Nobody should ever have to go through that, but at the same time, remember that he’s had a hard life and has experienced so much trauma in his life.

‘He has autism. Please show him mercy.”

She added: ‘He’s scared and to see your child calling and crying and saying I don’t want to die is devastating.

‘It’s terrible that my heart is breaking.’

Leanne has questioned why Brendan was charged as an adult and said she was told his severe autism was not a defense.

“He was originally charged as a juvenile and two days later he was charged directly and his [autism] was not considered,” she said.

“It is my understanding that autism is not a defense and cannot be considered until the sentencing stage.”

Leanne doesn’t understand why her son’s Nintendo Switch was allowed to be part of his day and why previous attempts to take it away from him resulted in a crisis team being called.

“That’s something I ask every day and I don’t understand why,” she said.

“His IEP stated that in the intensive behavioral group home where he lived, if they ever had to remove it as a result, they would have called in the crisis team.

“The original IEP called for a token economy to motivate him to do his work so he could earn tokens to go to something like a snack cupboard.

“This year he had a new teacher. It was her first year teaching and I don’t know if she didn’t understand the IEP or if she didn’t read it.

“But she approached the group home and asked the group home to send it.”

She added that she didn’t want to send him to public school, but she had no choice.

“He was originally in an autism behavioral hospital before Covid hit. He was placed in a behavioral group home and I was doubtful about it at first,” Leanne said.

“I always homeschooled him because he didn’t cope with the school environment. I asked the group home if he had to go to public school, if he couldn’t go to school online.

‘I was assured by them that all their clients went to a public school.

“So even though he was at level six, I never thought he belonged in a public school. I had no choice.’

Naydich previously told Fox35: “I was attacked on February 21 and I feel like I am constantly being attacked.

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 also revealed that she hasn’t watched the harrowing video of her assault since it was released and she doesn’t want to.

Naydich said Brendan 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.

‘Everyone who knows or knew me [before the attack], know 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.

“Unfortunately, I will carry many of my injuries, which are not visible, for the rest of my life,” she added.

Brendan has not contested 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.”

Brendan had already faced three battery arrests before the attack in February and was involved in a fight at the jail 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.

A court-appointed psychologist found that Brendan was in fact competent to stand trial and Judge Terence Perkins will decide his fate early next year.

Brendan’s family had hoped to minimize or eliminate the prison sentence altogether and instead focus on their son’s probation and treatment, but the prosecutor appears to have been 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.