A burly Florida teen who severely beat a teaching aide over a Nintendo Switch reportedly apologized for his misdeeds in a letter to the victim, saying the incident was a “mistake” that he will “never let happen again.”
News of the letter, which was never read in court, came after Brendan Depa, 18, was sentenced to five years in prison for felony aggravated battery after attacking Joan Nayditch in a hallway at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, Fla., in February 2023, the New York Post reported.
“Many people have claimed that I feel no remorse for the incident of last year, and that I don’t take responsibility for my actions,” Depa said in a hand-written letter obtained by NewsNation.
“This is not true: I am extremely sorry for injuring Miss Joan so severely and I am happy to see the injuries I inflicted did not leave any permanent scars or bruises.”
Depa was reportedly encouraged to write the letter by tutor Gene Lopes, who encouraged the teen to realize the effects of his actions. The tutor did not make any changes or edits to the letter, the Post reported, although he noted there were factual errors about Naydich’s injuries as the teen did not know how much he hurt her.
Nayditch, a mother of two, suffered five broken ribs, a concussion and was still dealing with vision and hearing difficulties earlier this year.
Security footage of the frightening incident shows the 6-foot-6, 270-pound Depa, who was 17 at the time of the attack and has been diagnosed with ADHD, autism and a mood disorder, charging Nayditch and shoving her to the ground.
Depa then repeatedly stomps on and punches Nayditch more than a dozen times before staff members separate them and eventually restrain Depa.
“I recognize what I did was wrong and take responsibility for my actions,” Depa’s letter says, via the Post. “I deeply regret allowing my emotions to get the best of me and letting things happen the way that they did.”
Florida Seventh Circuit Court Judge Terence Perkins said during sentencing that Depa had shown no remorse for the attack, the Post reported, and that it wasn’t an isolated incident with the teen charged with battery numerous times in the past.
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Depa’s adoptive mother Leanne has said, according to the Post, that the legal system is punishing her son because “he is Black … he is large and they are punishing his disability.
“I think he needs help and I think he needs treatment,” Leanne told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “But I don’t think he needs to be put away in a prison where he’s going to be taken advantage of or harmed.”
She also told NewsNation they have received multiple offers from hospitals and group homes willing to take in her son.