The tragic and mysterious death of Florida cheerleader Anna Kepner aboard a Carnival cruise ship has left her family grappling for answers, as they recently disclosed further insights into who they believe might be responsible. Despite these revelations, authorities have yet to make any arrests or announce charges.
On November 7, the staff of the Carnival Horizon cruise ship discovered Anna’s lifeless body in her cabin at approximately 11:15 a.m., as confirmed by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office. While the official cause and manner of her death remain undisclosed, Anna’s grandparents have shared that the FBI suspects asphyxiation could be involved.
Amidst a contentious custody dispute, Anna’s 16-year-old stepbrother has become a focal point of suspicion. This development has surfaced in legal documents related to the ongoing battle between Shauntel Kepner, Anna’s stepmother, and her former husband, Thomas Hudson.
Krystal Wright, Anna’s aunt, expressed concerns about the stepbrother’s behavior, revealing to Fox News Digital that Anna’s father, Chris Kepner, was aware of the situation. She recounted how Anna’s ex-boyfriend had informed the family earlier this year about a disturbing incident. During a FaceTime call, he allegedly witnessed Anna’s stepbrother enter her room and climb on top of her while she was asleep.
The family has identified Anna as the passenger who tragically passed away on the Carnival Horizon, a fact they have shared alongside a poignant photo on Instagram.
She said Anna’s ex-boyfriend informed the family earlier this year of an encounter he witnessed over a FaceTime video call, in which Anna fell asleep, and her stepbrother allegedly came into the room and climbed “on top of her.”
The teen boyfriend recounted the incident himself to the media after Anna’s funeral last week, saying that he shouted at the stepbrother, who ran out of the room. He said Anna felt “uncomfortable” around her stepbrother.
Still, Anna and her stepbrother were staying in the same room aboard the cruise ship, family members have said in multiple interviews.
Anna Kepner, her father, stepmother and several siblings in a family photo. (Shauntel Kepner/Facebook)
“He was in a room with her,” Anna’s grandmother, Barbara, told “Good Morning America” in an interview that aired Monday morning. “He was the only one seen coming and going.”
Investigators have recovered surveillance video and key card records from the ship.
“I can’t accuse him, because I don’t know what happened in that room, but the summation would be that he did something,” she added.
Jeff Kepner arrives to a memorial service for his granddaughter, Anna Kepner, at the Grove Church in Titusville, Florida, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. The 18 year-old cheerleader was reportedly found dead under a bed on a Carnival Cruise on Nov. 7. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
She said she heard him say in “his own words” that he doesn’t remember what happened, and “he was an emotional mess” after Anna’s death.
The 16-year-old stepbrother has not been charged with a crime as of Monday morning.
Shauntel Kepner, his mom and Anna’s stepmother, is asking the judge overseeing her custody battle for a gag order in that case, arguing that the publicity could impact his right to a fair trial if he ends up being charged.
The filing hinted at investigations by Florida’s Department of Children and Families in three counties that may be linked to the case.
Read the motion:
When asked what justice looks like for the family, the grandmother replied that it’s “whatever the law says.”
“I’m not gonna look for anything more or anything less, and that’s for the courts to decide,” she said.
In a TikTok video, Anna’s biological mom, who moved to Oklahoma when her daughter was 4, called the decision to leave Florida the worst mistake she’d ever made. She said Anna’s father, Christopher Kepner, made it “extremely hard” for her to keep in touch with her daughter over the years, to see her or to be part of her life.
“I loved my daughter — let me get that straight right now,” Heather Wright said. “My children are my world. And even though I wasn’t in her life, it doesn’t mean I didn’t think about her every day.”
Anna Kepner’s estranged biological mother, Heather Wright, has opened up about her daughter’s mysterious cruise ship death in a series of TikTok videos. (Heather Wright/TikTok)
In the caption of another post, she wrote that Anna’s father and stepmother didn’t even contact her after their cruise ship returned to Miami the morning after she’d been found dead in her room, hidden under the bed.
Her sister, Krystal Wright, told Fox News Digital that their side of the family learned about Anna’s death through the news and that Heather had been told not to go to her daughter’s memorial service last week.
