The devastated father of Anna Kepner, the 18-year-old cheerleader found dead aboard a Caribbean cruise ship, has declared he will ‘fight’ to ensure her teenage stepbrother is held accountable if investigators determine he played a role in her death.
Anna’s father, Christopher Kepner, 41, told People that his 16-year-old stepson is possibly under investigation in connection with the case and said he will not shield him should criminal charges follow.
‘I do not stand behind what my stepson has done,’ Kepner said. ‘I want him to face the consequences… I will be fighting to make sure that does happen.’
The explosive statement comes as the FBI continues probing what authorities have now ruled a homicide after Anna’s body lifeless body was found by a housekeeper onboard the ship.
She had been hidden beneath a bed inside the cabin she shared with her 16-year-old stepbrother and her 14-year-old younger half-brother on the Carnival Horizon.
Her official death certificate states she was ‘mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s).’
Authorities explained the term as meaning the cause of death was asphyxiation via a bar hold and that arm was pressed across her neck.
Kepner said the last time he saw his daughter alive was on November 6, when the blended family had gathered for dinner aboard the ship as it sailed between Mexico and Florida.
Anna Kepner was found dead at 11.17am on November 7 while she was on a Carnival cruise ship with her family
Anna’s father, Christopher Kepner, 41, said his 16-year-old stepson is possibly under investigation in connection with the case
But the following day, the celebration had turned into a scene of horror.
The FBI has not publicly identified a suspect or person of interest.
Soon after the FBI launched its investigation, Anna’s stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, stated in an unrelated custody filing that her 16-year-old son – Anna’s stepbrother – may be subject to a criminal investigation.
Christopher Kepner said he cannot yet say what exactly happened inside that cabin but acknowledged the devastating questions hanging over the family.
‘I cannot say that he is responsible but I can’t decline. He was the only one that was in the room and the FBI has an ongoing investigation in which they will have to provide the evidence to say that he did do it or did not do this,’ he told People.
‘Right now, my best course of action is to let the FBI do what they’re doing,’ he said.
‘They have the evidence that they need. When they make the arrest then we’ll start seeing the justice side of things.’
On the night of her death, Anna’s younger brother heard yelling and chairs being thrown in the cabin, where she was alone with her stepbrother, according to what the teen’s ex–boyfriend Josh Tew told reporters at a memorial service earlier this month.
Josh claimed Anna’s younger brother told him their stepbrother prevented him from entering their room and that he’d ‘heard her yelling at her in a harmful way, like ‘shut the hell up’ and ‘stuff like that.’
Even as investigators close in, Christopher admits the allegations remain difficult to reconcile with the boy he thought he knew.
Anna is seen congratulating her 16-year-old stepbrother on receiving a pair of school awards
Anna’s cause of death was ruled to have been caused by asphyxiation via a bar hold – an arm placed across the neck
‘He was a normal kid,’ he said. ‘And I would’ve never thought that any of this would’ve happened.’
Anna’s grandmother, Barbara Kepner, echoed that disbelief in an interview with ABC News.
‘They were just like brother and sister,’ she said, adding how they were ‘two peas in a pod.’
Barbara previously explained that the teen boy had struggled emotionally in the past.
‘I heard him say in his own words that he does not remember what happened,’ she said.
‘During [his police interview] he was an emotional mess. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t believe what happened.’
Sources previously told the Daily Mail that Anna went to bed early on November 6, saying she didn’t feel well.
Her 14-year-old brother later left the room to take photos around the ship, leaving Anna alone with her stepbrother.
Anna’s obituary said she planned to join the US Navy after graduating from high school and later become a K9 police officer
Anna’s grandmother Barbara told Good Morning America that the teen and her stepbrother’s relationship was just ‘like brother and sister’
The next morning, when the two boys went to breakfast and Anna could not be found, a medical emergency was announced over the ship’s loudspeakers. Her father ran to the cabin.
A cleaning crew had already made the discovery. Anna was declared dead at 11.17am on November 7.
Court filings show volatile family dynamics in the months leading up to the cruise.
Anna had lived with her father and his former wife Tabitha Kepner until their 2023 split.
Christopher later began a relationship with Shauntel Hudson, who had recently divorced Thomas Hudson.
Shauntel moved into Christopher’s three-bed, $300,000 home in Titusville, Florida with her two youngest children.
Her oldest son, Andrew, resisted moving so fiercely that court filings say he attempted to leap from his mother’s moving car.
‘The eldest child then tried to jump out of the moving vehicle at which time the mother had to restrain him from doing so as the vehicle was moving,’ Shauntel wrote.
Andrew, the eldest son of Anna Kepner’s new stepmom Shauntel Hudson, was so desperate to avoid living in their blended family he tried leaping from his mom’s moving car to escape, according to court papers
Andrew was absent from the cruise that Anna took with her father Christopher, 41, her half-siblings aged nine and 14, her grandparents, stepmom Shauntel, 36, and Shauntel’s two youngest children
The blended family share a modest three-bedroom home close to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida
Josh Tew, who broke up with the 18-year-old cheerleader six months ago, told reporters outside her memorial service that he saw the 16-year-old stepbrother attempt to ‘get on top of her’ while they were on Facetime
Andrew was allowed to remain with his father. The 16-year-old son later moved in – the same boy now linked to Anna’s death.
Anna’s former boyfriend Josh Tew has claimed disturbing behavior involving the stepbrother months earlier.
‘She was too scared to tell anybody,’ Tew said. ‘Because… he said that if she said anything about [him] getting on top of her, he’d do something to her.’
Tew also told reporters that Anna sometimes avoided her own bedroom and feared being alone in the house.
Emergency court filings submitted last week by both Shauntel Hudson and Thomas Hudson confirmed the existence of an FBI investigation.
‘It is true that there is an open investigation regarding the death of the biological daughter of the stepfather and [boy’s initials] is a suspect regarding this death which occurred recently on a cruise ship,’ Shauntel wrote in her response.
