Florida teen charged with homicide in death of his stepsister on cruise ship | Florida
A 16-year-old Florida boy has reportedly been charged with minor homicide in the death of his half-sister, Anna Kepner, aboard a Carnival cruise ship in November.
News of the charges against the teenage boy emerged in court documents first reported Monday by Florida news outlet West 2 News. CBS News also reported after seeing the documents.
Kepner, an 18-year-old high school senior from Titusville, Florida, had shared a room with the murder suspect during vacation; His father, stepmother and two other half-siblings were also here. Investigators determined that he died of asphyxiation from a bar grip (an arm around his neck) and noticed two bruises on the side of his neck.
Immediately following his death, which reportedly occurred on November 7, his half-brother was identified as a suspect. He was allowed to drink because the ship was in international waters, according to a lawyer involved in a custody dispute between his parents.
The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office for the southern district of Florida have not commented publicly on the case, which concerns federal authorities because it occurred aboard an internationally traveling cruise ship.
CBS News reported that a maid found Kepner under her bed the day the Caribbean cruise returned to Miami on Nov. 8. Cheerleader Kepner had told family members the night before that she wasn’t feeling well. When he did not come to breakfast, a search was launched.
Kepner’s ex-boyfriend Jim Thew told West 2 News He said he wasn’t surprised that his half-brother was suspected of killing him.
“There were signs before this,” Thew said. “She was complaining about him being uncomfortable around her.”
After months of speculation, the public learned that the half-sibling had been charged following a court filing regarding a custody dispute. The U.S. attorney’s office in south Florida “charged” Kepner’s half-brother with the murder on Feb. 3, citing “social media” from the victim’s family, the filing said.
Kepner’s grandmother, Barbara, in November he told ABC News He said the suspect went through “emotional turmoil” after the murder. “He couldn’t even talk; he couldn’t believe what was happening,” Barbara Kepner said online. “He also said he didn’t remember what happened.”
Barbara Kepner added: “I know these two kids care about each other in the right way. I can’t blame him because I don’t know what happened in that room.”
As Wesh reports, more recent court documents quote “Kepner family social media” [which] He stated that they wanted the nail to be put in the coffin [the stepbrother]”.
One Kepner’s obituary “He loved his siblings deeply and made sure they always felt it, whether he was taking them to the park or just going out for fun, because that’s who he was: thoughtful, caring, and always thinking of others.”
“She had a big, beautiful heart; she would often send random ‘I love you’ messages or little gestures that made someone’s day.”
