UPDATE
Feb 7, 2026 7:30 AM CST
The stepbrother of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was found dead aboard a Carnival cruise ship in November, has been arrested in connection with her death, according to his stepfather. Chris Kepner says that the unnamed 16-year-old, who faces unspecified charges in the death that has been ruled a homicide by asphyxia, has already been released from custody into the care of a guardian, per ABC News. Per TMZ, the teen boy made an appearance in a Miami court on Friday, accompanied by federal marshals. "The loss of our daughter is a pain that will never fully heal," notes a statement by Chris Kepner and his wife, Shauntel, who was Anna's stepmother and is the suspect's biological mother, per ABC. "It is devastating to know that while we live every day with the loss of our child, the individual responsible has not yet been fully held accountable." Read their statement here.
Dec 25, 2025 8:59 AM CST
A 16-year-old boy under investigation in the killing of his 18-year-old stepsister aboard a cruise ship told his mother that he doesn't remember anything about it, according to texts obtained by Fox 35 Orlando.
- "I was able to talk to him last night for under two minutes briefly he just keeps repeating over and over he can't remember anything," wrote Shauntel Hudson-Kepner to ex-husband Thomas Hudson, the boy's father. She said the boy had been without his usual insomnia medication for two nights on the November cruise.
- "I don't even know if they were allowed to let me talk to him or not but the nurse was very nice and let me talk to him just to tell him that you and i love him," she added.
- Much of the messaging centers on limiting what becomes public about the teen. "Everything is supposed to be hush hush for now," Hudson wrote, voicing concern about social media chatter and saying he wanted to prevent "unnecessary comments" about his son. Hudson-Kepner responds that the family has "not said anything to anybody" and that as a minor "his name shouldn't be anywhere," adding they would stress that point to the FBI. She also links potential criminal charges to whatever the autopsy ultimately shows, writing that once they get the report, it would determine "whether he's booked on those charges."
Anna Kepner's death on the Carnival Horizon ship has been ruled a homicide, and ABC News has reported that the cause of death was "mechanical asphyxia," defined by the AP as "when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing." Many details about the case remain under wraps because of the suspect's age.
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