{"id":230165,"date":"2026-04-13T19:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T19:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230165\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T19:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T19:20:09","slug":"florida-teen-charged-as-adult-in-killing-of-stepsister-anna-kepner-on-carnival-cruise-ship-doj-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230165\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida teen charged as adult in killing of stepsister Anna Kepner on Carnival cruise ship, DOJ says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida (WFOR<\/a>) \u2014 The 16-year-old stepbrother of Florida teenager Anna Kepner has been officially charged as an adult in her killing after she was found dead aboard a cruise ship in 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.<\/p>\n

According to court records, the Titusville teenager, identified by federal prosecutors with his initials \u201cT.H.,\u201d was traveling on Carnival Cruise Line\u2019s Horizon with 18-year-old Kepner and other family members in November 2025 when the incident occurred during a Caribbean voyage, according to the DOJ.<\/p>\n

Investigators said that while the ship was in international waters en route to Miami, the teenage stepbrother allegedly sexually assaulted and intentionally killed Kepner, according to the DOJ.<\/p>\n

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner\u2019s Office later determined the cause of death to be mechanical asphyxiation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hearts go out to the victim\u2019s family during this unimaginable loss,\u201d U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Qui\u00f1ones for the Southern District of Florida said in a news release. \u201cA federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging serious offenses that allegedly occurred aboard a vessel in international waters. We will present the evidence in court and pursue this case with professionalism and care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qui\u00f1ones went on to say that Kepner\u2019s stepbrother is presumed innocent unless or until he\u2019s proven guilty.<\/p>\n

The teenager was initially charged as a juvenile in February, and the case remained sealed until U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ordered it transferred for adult prosecution.<\/p>\n

According to the DOJ, Kepner\u2019s stepbrother was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019s convicted in her killing, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.<\/p>\n

Family member reacted to the indictment of Kepner\u2019s stepbrother on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad that justice is starting and I am hoping she gets the justice she deserves,\u201d said Chris Donohue Sr, Anna\u2019s step-grandfather. \u201cHer life was cut short and we are saddened that we will not be able to see what a beautiful life she would have had.\u201d<\/p>\n

No court date has been set as of Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was inevitable that the stepbrother would be charged as an adult,\u201d said Dave Aronberg, former Palm Beach prosecutor who reviewed the indictment and has followed the case but is not involved. \u201cThe adult criminal justice system is better equipped to handle a 16-year accused of such violent crimes that result in death.\u201d<\/p>\n

A juvenile track in the federal courts would have allowed the defendant to potentially be released fro prison at 21-years-old regardless of how severe the crime was, according to Aronberg.<\/p>\n

FBI Miami is investigating the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra L. L\u00f3pez is prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n

\t \t \t \t=htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities(‘For more stories like this one, be sure to visit https:\/\/www.eastidahonews.com\/ for all of the latest news, community events and more.’)?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”> \t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida (WFOR) \u2014 The 16-year-old stepbrother of Florida teenager Anna Kepner has been officially charged as an adult…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-230165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}