October 15th 2023.
Joan Naydich, a paraprofessional at Matanzas High School in Florida, was attacked by an autistic student, Brendan Depa, on February 21st. The incident, which was caught on the school's surveillance video, showed Depa, who stands 6'6" and weighs 270 pounds, kicking and punching the teacher in the back and head, knocking her unconscious.
Naydich was taken to the hospital and treated for her injuries. Her family started a GoFundMe to help cover medical and living expenses while she was out of work, and it raised over $100,000.
At first, Depa was charged as a juvenile, which would have been a lesser sentence. But in June, Circuit Judge Terence Perkins determined Depa was competent to stand trial after hearing the testimony of two psychologists. One clinician diagnosed the teen with psychosis and described him as “severely autistic, often violent and unpredictable and requiring extreme assistance,” while the other said that Depa was aware and able to stand trial.
Depa's attorney, Kurt Teifke, expressed his concerns about the judge's decision. "I have great concerns," he said. "I am not confining my opinions to diagnosis. Not at all. I'm talking about its manifestations. I'm talking about the behavior and the interactions and, frankly, everything that happens." He went on to describe his client's condition as “a cocktail of mental health disorders.”
Depa was recently in court for a pre-trial hearing, and is expected to plead guilty on October 30th to avoid trial. Naydich has refused to support a more lenient sentence for the teen, and Depa faces up to 30 years in prison.
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