TRUE CRIME NEWSCarnival Cruise Horror: Anna Kepner’s 16-Year-Old Stepbrother Charged With Homicide in Connection to Victim’s Tragic Death
The Florida cheerleader's lifeless body was discovered by a housekeeper under a bed in the cabin she was sharing with her stepbrother aboard a Carnival Cruise ship.
Feb. 24 2026, Published 6:01 p.m. ET
The 16-year-old stepbrother of Florida cheerleader Anna Kepner is the prime suspect in her murder, according to new reports.
Kepner's lifeless body was discovered by a housekeeper under a bed in the cabin she was sharing with her stepbrother aboard a Carnival Cruise ship last November.
It's now been revealed in court documents obtained by CBS News that the boy, who was reportedly obsessed with his stepsister, is facing homicide charges.
Anna Kepner's stepbrother has reportedly been charged in her murder.
In the documents, lawyers representing the male teen's biological father, Thomas Hudson, wrote, "According to social media from the Kepner family ... the Petitioner/Father's son, TH, was charged by the United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida for the [redacted] and homicide of Anna Kepner."
The emergency filing dated February 20 is said to be a part of an "ongoing custody dispute" between the parents of Anna's stepbrother.
An outlet reported earlier this month that the young man — who is not being named since he's a minor — was arrested by U.S. Marshals Service and appeared in a Miami, Fla., federal court for a closed-door hearing on February 6.
Anna Kepner Said She Wasn't Feeling Well Before Her Body Was Found
A search for Anna Kepner was launched aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship when she didn't show up for breakfast.
Anna, 18, had been on a Caribbean cruise with her father, Chris Kepner, stepmother Shauntel Hudson and stepsiblings aboard the Carnival Horizon.
Law enforcement sources previously confirmed to an outlet that she died on November 7, 2025, one day before the ship returned to Miami.
The night before she was found, family members said she complained about not feeling well and returned to her shared room. A search began the next morning when she failed to show up for breakfast.
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Anna Kepner Died by Strangulation
Anna Kepner was allegedly strangled by her stepbrother.
It was previously reported that Anna was "strangled during an altercation," and that investigators had reason to believe the suspect "may have been using alcohol" at the time.
"There is an open investigation regarding [Kepner's] death… and T.H. [a stepbrother] is a suspect regarding this death which occurred recently on a cruise ship," the boy's mother said in a November 18 court filing amid the aforementioned custody dispute.
'She Was Scared of Him'
Stephen Westin, the father of Anna Kepner’s ex-boyfriend, said her stepbrother was 'obsessed with her.'
The update comes after the father of Anna's ex-boyfriend told Inside Edition that her stepbrother was once caught climbing on top of her while she slept.
"He’s like infatuated, attracted to her like crazy. He always wanted to date her," Steven Westin claimed in the interview shortly after her death. "She was scared of him because he always carried around a big knife."
