Wiping spit from her face, Florida teacher Joan Naydich felt it was time to escape her classroom.
“The last thing I remember was holding the door handle,” he told The Post in his first major interview since being knocked unconscious by a student with a Nintendo Switch last February.
“I don’t remember anything [else] until 3:30 pm I just came to. And at that moment I was in the ER and my son and daughter were standing there.
In an attack that has been seen more than 10 million times around the world, 17-year-old Brendan Depa – standing 6ft 7in and 270lbs – pummeled Naydich with more than a dozen kicks and punches as he lay motionless on the floor.
With her sentencing scheduled for later this month, Naydich opened up about the case — and what led up to the attack that left her with five broken ribs, a concussion, and a shattered soul, including how Depa spat on her and called her a “bitch” and a “whore” because she had signaled to his teacher that his gaming device was a distraction.
The Rhode Island native, 59, moved to northern Florida’s Palm Coast two decades ago and first worked for the Flagler County School District starting in 2003.
Joan Naydich opened up to The Post in her first major interview since the attack. Ralph Notaro/MEGA for the NY Post
After toiling in the Matanzas High School cafeteria for nearly two decades, Naydich pursued the certification necessary to become a paraprofessional classroom aide. With her two children in the district, the position allows her to stay close to them throughout the day while also earning a living.
Naydich first met Depa, an autistic teenager, in January 2022 in a special needs classroom. He provided assistance to the primary school teacher, ensuring that Depa and his classmates managed to reach their various destinations throughout the day.
Depa – who was adopted and then sent to live in a group home – thought of him as a smart but troubled teenager.
17-year-old Brendan Depa then punched Naydich as he lay motionless on the floor. Flagler County S
When agitated, he would pelt her and the other staff with epithets – usually some variant of the term “bitch”.
But for over a year, he never felt any physical threat from his students. “He will try to intimidate,” he said. “But during that school year it never got to the point where he became violent. That’s just verbal.”
When calm, Depa exudes a sophisticated intellect, showing enough self-control to attend computer class with general education students at Matanzas High School.
Video games, as Naydich would soon learn, were his passion.
Depa appeared in court in October. Nigel Cook/News-Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK
“Apart from his outwardly defiant attitude, I didn’t notice anything wrong with him,” he said. “He’s a normal boy.”
Depa would bristle if Naydich asked about his classroom performance, telling his teacher to stop “peeping” into his school files.
But at other times, the towering teenager and the diminutive teacher would discuss her college prospects, and a potential future in computers.
Naydich told him about Bethune-Cookman University, a historically black college in nearby Daytona Beach.
He remembered going through college brochures with Depa in the area just a few meters from where he would eventually attack her.
The day that would lead Naydich into a dark viral story began routinely, with him waiting for his van to arrive from the group home. The bus privilege was withdrawn after a fight with another student.
Naydich was badly bruised after the brutal attack. Joan Naydich
He arrived disgruntled, annoyed at having to wait for the other students assigned to Naydich to arrive before they could go to the canteen for breakfast. Depa told me he didn’t give me dinner last night.
“He was restless,” she said. “But no more agitated than usual.”
After eating, depa went to the regular special needs class. His head teacher, Naydich said, would let him use his Nintendo Switch if he completed his academic work.
Depa, who was in handcuffs here, had his bus privileges revoked after fighting with another student. Flagler County Sherriff’s Office
As usual, he then walked with her to the next class — a general education course on cyber security.
Naydich states that he has a substitute, and he explains to the teacher that he will sit next to him and monitor Depa in case he needs help.
The substitute glared at Naydich after Depa pulled out his gaming device and distracted several other students with it. The paraprofessional asked her to put it down, and she obliged.
But he produced it again towards the end of the period, prompting another upset from the substitutes.
Naydich walks with his council members at a hearing in March 2023. David Tucker\News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Hoping to avoid the issue in the future, Naydich sent a message to his lead instructor who would be teaching him next and told him that it would be wise for Depa not to bring the device into computer class moving forward.
They then returned to Depa’s regular classroom, where his head teacher discussed the issue. Depa realizes Naydich has informed him of what happened in the previous class — and Depa’s volcanic temper begins to bubble.
“That’s when he started calling my name,” said Naydich. “Bitch. whore This and that. I reached for my backpack and sweatshirt and I got up to leave the class. The energy changes there. I just want to get myself out of it. I don’t want to be involved with it.”
Depa then approached Naydich and spat in his face as he moved towards the door.
Naydich said Depa called her name before he attacked her. Joan Naydich
“I can still feel it,” he said, reaching his hand to the side of his face.
Naydich then turned to open the door — his last memory before waking up in the hospital.
Her son, then a senior at the school, had been sitting in a nearby classroom when his mother was attacked.
The shocked teenager was pulled out of his classroom, told what happened and rode in an ambulance with Naydich to the emergency room.
When calm, Depa exudes a sophisticated intellect, showing enough self-control to attend computer class with general education students at Matanzas High School. Nigel Cook/News-Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK
Burdened with ongoing medical and psychological complications, Naydich said she still struggles with the school district to secure adequate workers’ compensation.
“I was angry,” he said of his behavior after the incident. “It’s not like I’m faking my injury. It’s in the video. They all know what happened to me. This is something big, violence, which has never happened in this district. I expect more from my employer, from my county, than to be treated like someone who faked a fall.”
A judge will decide Depa’s fate on January 31. He has pleaded guilty and faces between probation and 30 years in prison.
Depa’s supporters insist his dysfunctional childhood and mental deficits should reduce his term, while others – including Naydich himself – say he does not deserve the court’s mercy.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
