Brendan Depa’s adoptive mother teared up as she asked a judge for leniency towards the teenager as he was sentenced on Tuesday, 6 August, for attacking a teacher’s aide in 2023.
The 18-year-old was recorded on a video beating the staff member at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, Florida.
He pleaded no contest to aggravated battery charges against him in October and was sentenced Tuesday to five years in state prison followed by 15 years of probation.
Leann Depa told a court that her Brendan has “had a hard life”, felt abandoned by his birth and adoptive family, and struggles with autism and behavioural issues.
“I beg you let him come home with me. I want my son back,” she said.