New sentencing date set for ex-Matanzas High School student in viral video attack
The sentencing for Brendan Depa, the ex-Matanzas High School student accused of brutally beating a teacher’s aide, has been set for April.
Depa has pleaded no contest to the charge of aggravated battery on a school board employee, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. It is an open plea, meaning there was no agreement with prosecutors limiting his possible prison time.
Depa had been scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, but Circuit Judge Terence Perkins last week granted a defense request to continue the sentencing.
Perkins rescheduled the sentencing to begin at 8:30 a.m. on April 26 at the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center in Bunnell.
Depa attacked paraprofessional Joan Naydich on Feb. 21, 2023, a beating that was caught on a school security video that went viral and drew international attention.
Depa, 18, is being held at the Flagler County jail on $1 million bond.
Depa’s defense attorney, Kurt Teifke, wrote in a motion filed Jan. 19 that he needs more time to prepare mitigation.
“The experts anticipated to be used here have each been unavailable since last month and remain unavailable through mid-March at the earliest due to their prior commitments to other attorneys litigating death-penalty matters,” Teifke wrote.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Brendan Depa, ex-Matanzas student in attack, to be sentenced in April
