Warning: This article contains content which some readers may find distressing.

A student whose assault left a teaching assistant with multiple serious injuries wrote an apology letter before being sentenced to five years in prison.

Brendan Depa was 17 years old at the time of the assault which left teaching assistant Joan Naydich, 59, with five broken ribs, hearing loss, and concussion.

The assault took place at Palm Coast’s Matanzas High School in February 2023 after Naydich allegedly threatened to confiscate a Nintendo DS the teenager had been playing with.

Depa, who has autism, ADHD, and a mood disorder, wrote an apology letter which was not read out in court.

In the letter, shared with NewsNation, he wrote: “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.

“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.

“In addition, I recognize what I did was wrong and take responsibility for my actions.

Surveillance footage caught Depa throwing Naydich to the ground. (Flagler County Sheriff’s Office)

“I deeply regret allowing my emotions to get the best of me and letting things happen the way that they did.”

He continued: “I believe what I did should not define who I am. In a choice between letting this incident destroy, define, or strengthen me, I have chosen to let it strengthen me.

“During my incarceration I have learned coping skills to ensure something like this never happens again.

“I have grown and matured in ways otherwise impossible, making me not happy I have been incarcerated, but nonetheless grateful.

“My eyes have been opened to skills and strategies I would otherwise have been blind to.”

He concluded: “I made a mistake – one I will never let happen again – and I am sorry.”

Leann Depa, his adoptive mother, has said that she had warned the school about her son’s triggers, including that ‘electronics’ was his biggest.

Depa’s apology was not read out in court. (WKMG Orlando)

She said: “I had told the school that being hungry was a trigger, that noise was a trigger, that being told no was a trigger, that being corrected in front of other people was a trigger, and electronics was a huge trigger.”

Lawyers for Depa have also filed a separate lawsuit against the school district for negligence in which the teenager is described as a ‘ticking time bomb’.

Naydich, meanwhile, has described the severe long term impact of the assault, which resulted in her losing her job and her health insurance.

She said: “Every day is a challenge. I have lived every day since with the repercussions of it, the assault of it, whether it be hearing loss that I have, vision loss, headaches.”

She added: “Unfortunately, a lot of my injuries that are not visible I’m going to have for the rest of my life.”

Joan Naydichwas beaten unconscious by the pupil. (Facebook/Joan Naydich)

During the sentencing, Depa’s mom pleaded with the judge to let him be confined to house arrest and not prison, saying: “I knew Brendan and I knew his triggers and I knew his needs and his strengths and I beg you to let him come home with me.”

Depa was sentenced to five years in prison, and will have a 15 year period of supervised probation after his release.

The mom described the prison term as a ‘death sentence’, claiming that her son was being treated harshly due to his race, size, and disability.

She told NewsNation: “He’s scared. To have your child call and cry and say ‘I don’t want to die’ — it’s awful.”

Psychologist Dr Jeff Gardere said that both the student and teaching assistant are victims here.

He told NewsNation: “This is about the failing of our society, the failings of the schools. This is a person with severe autism. This is the diagnosis in addition to other mental health issues.

“So if you see aggression here, it’s because we’re not taking care of the needs of this individual.”

A mom has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing her ex-husband in order to stop him from seeing their children.

Timothy Hovanec worked for the US Department of State, which advises the President on foreign policy issues as well as negotiates treaties and agreements with foreign countries and entities.

In 2018, he and wife Amanda Hovanec moved to South Africa with their three children for Timothy’s work assignment. It was while they were there that 37-year-old Amanda developed a relationship with a South African citizen named Anthony Theodorou.

Upon arrival back on US soil, Amanda – who lived in the small city of Wapakoneta, Ohio – initiated divorce proceedings against her then-husband, 36, in 2020.

The following year, in December 2021, she began to deny Timothy visitation to see their children, despite a court order permitting it.

Fighting for his children, Timothy filed numerous contempt motions against her.

It led to a judge ruling in April 2022 that the children were granted visitation to see their dad and that he would become the residential parent and legal custodian of their children for two months that summer, beginning in May.

Before that took place, he picked them up from their Wapakoneta home for weekend visitation, but when he returned them home, he vanished.

A subsequent missing person report was created by the hotel he was staying in.

Timothy Havonec fought tirelessly to see his three children after their mom’s affair (Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office)

Police investigating the incident discovered Timothy’s car abandoned in Dayton, Ohio, and inside, they found dashcam footage of the incident.

In the footage, dated April 24, 2022, at around 7pm, Amanda and her mom Anita Green can be seen waiting outside the home, before Green says: “I have a surprise for you inside.”

Once the kids go inside, Green follows them in, and Amanda is seen walking to the driver’s side of the car. She says out of shot: “What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?”

Before adding: “Get away from me… Get off of me.”

As Timothy tries to use his cellphone she begins pulling his shirt before wrestling him and knocking the phone out of his hand, pulling him to the ground and holding him until he goes limp.

After initially denying any involvement in his disappearance, Hovanec finally admitted to injecting her estranged husband in the shoulder with ‘poison’ which she understood would kill him within minutes.

Amanda Havonec has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars, while her mom got 10 years and her South African lover was handed 18 years (Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office)

She then went on to explain how her and Theodorou had already dug up his grave, and how the South African obtained M-99, an anaesthesia which is used on rhinos and is approximately 1,000 times more potent than morphine.

Her mom then agreed to take the pair to what would be Timothy’s grave site where they buried him.

Theodorou was sentenced to 18 years in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to import, importation, and distribution of a controlled substance that resulted in death.

He was also ordered to pay $2,108,559.36 in restitution, of which a part will be paid jointly and severally with Amanda and Green.

Anita Green was sentenced to 10 years in prison and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to being an accessory to the crimes committed by Amanda Hovanec and Anthony Theodorou.

A woman got quite the shock when she discovered that her husband had a Tinder profile, and claimed he was single.

Now of course, the immediate question is how she caught him, and in this case it wasn’t because she spotted the app on his phone, or because a single friend found his profile.

It was because she’d also made a Tinder profile for herself, though she had at least been smart enough to use a pseudonym.

Writing in to a relationship advice column, she explained: “I (29) have been married for two years with 3 kids, but of late, my husband (41) has been acting funny.

“I decided to join Tinder in search of a friend with benefits and shock on me I stumbled upon my husband’s profile on the app.”

Well you may think that’s not the best way to kick things off, but somehow it does actually get worse.

She continued: “Because I use a pseudo name [sic], I swiped right, and it was a match.

“He started chatting with me immediately, and he told me he was single without knowing he was talking to his wife.

Basak Gurbuz Derman / Getty

“I am so heartbroken and confused about what to do. Should I continue with this marriage or call it quits? Please advise.”

To call it ‘awkward’ really doesn’t do it justice! Sure you could call out the cheating (or attempted cheating?), but not without admitting to trying to cheat yourself.

It’s the Mutually Assured Destruction of relationships.

Agony aunt Dr Love wrote back, suggesting that it was at least a good thing that she had realised the marriage was not working.

He wrote: “Well, at least you know you are not compatible. Your marriage broke down a while back, even a long time ago.

Kinga Krzeminska / Getty

“Keeping in mind that there is also a story behind your husband’s dalliance with Tinder, maybe this feels like you are just as inadequate.”

He went on to suggest that she sit down with her husband and have an open discussion about the situation.

And if they were not able to come to an understanding or agreement about their relationship, then maybe it’s time to call it a day.

He advised: “You are both guilty. If your differences are unamendable, then you can both separate amicably. Your marriage is on paper only.

“Keep it that way if you have other expounding circumstances, but it seems like you both decided to check out.” 

A woman living with a chronic condition that leaves her in constant pain has shared that she wishes to end her life via euthanasia.

Carolina Arruda from Brazil shared that she has plans to go to Switzerland to die by euthanasia as the practice is banned in her home country.

Carolina lives with a chronic condition which cannot be cured, and which means she has to live in excruciating pain.

The 27-year-old lives in Bambuí in south-east Brazil, and was diagnosed with bilateral trigeminal neuralgia when she was just 16 years old.

This condition affects four out of 100,000 people in the world and causes extreme pain in patients.

The mom-of-one describes the pain as like being shocked on both sides of her face with 220 volts.

Bilateral trigeminal neuralgia affects the trigeminal nerve which carries signals between the brain and the face.

Carolina made the decision to die by euthanasia. (Facebook / Carolina Arruda)

Simple everyday actions such as brushing your teeth, chewing, drinking, and sneezing can cause agonising pain for patients.

Describing the condition, Carolina told CNN: “Imagine a pain that makes it impossible to speak, smile, eat. It’s the simplest things that this pain limits and incapacitates me in a way that I can’t describe.”

She added: “There are times when all I can do is lie down and curl up in a corner and wait for this pain to go away, but it never really goes away. I live with this pain 24 hours a day.”

Carolina has explored a lot of other options before making her heartbreaking decision.

Explaining, she said: “I tried several pharmacological treatments, from conventional medications to more experimental options.

Carolina lives with a chronic condition that causes excruciating pain. (Vakinha)

“I invested time, money and an immense amount of energy in the search for anything that could alleviate my pain.”

Tragically, these were not enough to improve the condition.

Carolina said: “Every day, I tried to find meaning, to find hope, but the pain was always there, without stopping.

“It’s not a lack of love for life or for the people around me, it’s simply a cry for compassion, for a dignified end, you know?”

Ultimately, she has made the decision to travel to Switzerland to die, where euthanasia is legal.

She said: “The decision to have euthanasia was the hardest decision and, at the same time, the clearest for me.

“Even with the support of my family, and all the possibilities for a happy life, the constant pain turned my life into a real torment.”