In a statement, the school's superintendent said creating a safe learning and working environment is critical, adding violence is never appropriate.
The 17-year-old Florida student who police allege violently attacked a teacher’s aide over a Nintendo Switch game will be charged with aggravated battery as an adult, according to court documents obtained by The Daytona Beach News Journal.
Brendan J. Depa was charged with aggravated battery on a school board employee, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
He is currently behind bars with bail set at $1 million.
The incident occurred on Feb. 21 at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast, Florida. It took five fellow teachers to pull him off the victim before cops arrived to handcuff the teenager, who stands 6-foot-6-inches tall and weighs 270 pounds.
Depa has not yet entered a plea and is being represented by the public defender, the District Attorney of the 7th Judicial Court tells Inside Edition Digital.
The District Attorney of the 7th Judicial Court tells Inside Edition Digital they have "no comment at this time" on the case.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to the office of the public defender who is representing Depa and they said via email "we do not have any comment on his case."
Joan Naydich, the 57-year-old victim, shared on a GoFundMe created for her that she “never took the Nintendo Switch from him. From anyone that's read or heard differently, I've been told this was unfortunately misinformation.”
Naydich, a single mom, was left unconscious in the attack.
Her daughter, Nikki, says, "please be comforted knowing she is home and recovering. This incident has reached areas of the world I never thought possible."
Nikki also said that her brother attends Matanzas High School and was on campus when his mother was attacked, but did not witness the actual incident.
"This young man showed a level of calmness, bravery, and courage during such a difficult event," Nikki writes about her brother, who went to the hospital with their mother. "A child should never have to witness a parent in the way he did."
In a statement, the school's superintendent said creating a safe learning and working environment is critical, adding violence is never appropriate.
