US3 min(s) read
Published 13:55 14 Apr 2026 GMT
The stepbrother of an 18-year-old high school cheerleader who was brutally killed while on a cruise holiday with her family last year has been charged with sexually abusing and murdering her.
Anna Kepner was found dead under a bed in her cabin on board Carnival Cruise’s Horizon vessel last November, while the ship was in international waters en route to Miami.
The teenager’s 16-year-old stepbrother, officially identified by his initials T.H, has been charged with her murder as an adult, a statement released by the Department of Justice yesterday revealed.
He was was initially charged as a juvenile in February and was released to the custody of a guardian.
At the time, T.H.’s case remained under seal after US District Judge Beth Bloom ordered it transferred for adult prosecution.
Federal prosecutors in Florida said that on or about November 6-7, 2025, T.H. intentionally killed and sexually assaulted Kepner.
On Monday, April 13, federal prosecutors officially charged T.H. with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.
He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted, as he is not eligible for the death penalty as he was still a juvenile when the crime was committed.
Federal prosecutors said that the evidence presented to a grand jury demonstrated that T.H. committed “the most serious, egregious, and violative crimes one person can inflict upon another.”
“He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling,” the indictment read.
The bombshell update comes five months after a cabin steward discovered the body of Kepner under a bed, wrapped in a blanket, and covered in life jackets.
After Kepner, who would have graduated high school this spring, was found with two bruises on her neck her cause of death was ruled as mechanical asphyxiation.
She had been sharing a cabin with her 16-year-old stepbrother and her other biological brother, 14, her family said.
In the weeks after her death, Kepner’s ex-boyfriend made disturbing accusations that her stepbrother was “obsessed” with the young cheerleader.
He claimed that months before she was killed, he was on a video call with his then-girlfriend when he allegedly caught T.H. climbing on top of her.
