Stepbrother under investigation after teen dies on cruise ship
Anna Kepner, 18, was found dead on the Carnival Horizon on Nov. 8. Her stepbrother, 16, is under an investigation related to her death, his mother wrote this week in a legal filing.
The 16-year-old stepbrother of a young woman found dead aboard a Carnival cruise ship is under investigation in her death, according to court documents filed in Brevard County, Florida.
The body of the woman, Anna Kepner, 18, of Brevard County, was discovered on the Carnival Horizon on Nov. 8. Because her death occurred in international waters after the ship departed an American port, the FBI responded to the crime scene. The Horizon had left Miami on Nov. 2 for a six-day cruise around the Caribbean.
According to a legal filing by Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, on Monday, Kepner had been vacationing with her father, stepmother and two stepsiblings, a 16-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, at the time of her death. Her stepbrother, identified in the documents as “T.H.,” “is a suspect” in the death, “which occurred recently on a cruise ship,” Hudson asserted in her filing.
The filing was part of a custody dispute between Hudson and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, who were granted a divorce in 2023. Emails to both Shauntel Hudson and Thomas Hudson requesting comment went unanswered Wednesday.
The 16-year-old is staying with a relative of Shauntel Hudson, the documents said. The child’s parents have hired a lawyer for him, and the 9-year-old is in counseling, Hudson said in her filing.
In a statement, Carnival Cruise Line said it was fully cooperating with the FBI and that the ship had returned to port in Miami as planned on Nov. 8.
“The FBI has advised that there is no related threat to safety aboard as it sails its current voyage,” Carnival said of the Horizon. “Our focus remains on supporting the family of our guest and cooperating with the FBI.”
A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed that the agency is investigating but did not provide further details.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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