Florida Teen Who Beat Teacher Over Nintendo Switch Confession, Sentencing Set for January

Autistic teen Brendan Depa faces sentencing ranging from probation to 30 years in prison after guilty plea for assaulting a school paraprofessional over a confiscated Nintendo Switch game.

• Brendan Depa, a Florida teen who violently beat his female teacher unconscious after his Nintendo Switch game was confiscated at school, has pleaded guilty to the assault and faces up to 30 years in prison.
• The attack on Matanzas High School paraprofessional Joan Naydich was filmed and quickly went viral, featuring Depa punching and kicking Naydich more than a dozen times.
• Depa's sentencing, which could range from probation to 30 years in prison, is set for a January hearing, with Judge Terrence Perkins presiding over the case.
• Although Depa’s attorneys have stressed his autism diagnosis and argued he wasn’t competent to stand trial, these efforts were rejected before the plea. Notably, Depa had three prior battery arrests before the assault on Naydich.
• Despite the profound physical and emotional damage she endured, Naydich has refused to help Depa seek a lighter sentence, and prosecutors have not signaled a willingness for leniency.

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