FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A teenager on trial for the savage kicking and stomping attack on a 15-year-old girl was so deeply affected from witnessing his older brother’s suicide that his grades nosedived and he showed classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, a psychologist testified for the boy’s defense Wednesday.

Dr. Phil Heller said 17-year-old Wayne Treacy suffered flashbacks, anger outbursts, trouble sleeping, depression and a drop in grades that did not befit a boy whose IQ tests and gifted-level grades showed he was “extremely bright” in all the years before the suicide. Heller said Treacy also had difficulty controlling increasingly strong emotions.