{"id":230890,"date":"2026-04-14T07:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T07:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230890\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T07:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T07:16:20","slug":"florida-teen-indicted-as-adult-in-stepsisters-death-aboard-carnival-horizon-cruise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230890\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida teen indicted as adult in stepsister\u2019s death aboard Carnival Horizon cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/fbi-investigates-cruise-ship-death-of-18-year-old-as-stepbrother-faces-potential-charges-carnival-cruise-line-ship-horizon-south-florida-sudden-death-of-anna-kepner-november-19-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Florida teen <\/a>has been indicted as an adult on federal murder and sexual abuse charges in the <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/nation-world\/cruise-ship-death-mysterious-carnival-liner-line-voyage-water-sea-ocean-trip-information-ongoing-invstigation-fbi-federal-bureau-died-passenger-details-family-horizon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">killing <\/a>of his 16-year-old stepsister aboard a cruise ship.<\/p>\n<p>The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner\u2019s Office ruled the death a homicide caused by strangulation. Initially charged as a juvenile, T.H. was ordered to stand trial as an adult by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom.<\/p>\n<p>Court records allege that the teenager, identified in filings as T.H., was traveling with 16-year-old Anna Kepner and other family members aboard the <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/nation-world\/cruise-teen-death-wrapped-stuffed-blanket-bed-life-jacket-jackets-carnival-cheerleader-ship-boat-water-ocean-sea-fbi-feel-well-felt-sick-high-schooler-school-teenager-mysterious-investigation-ongoing-family-cabin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Carnival Horizon<\/a> in early November 2025. <\/p>\n<p>During the voyage, while the vessel was in international waters en route to Miami, federal prosecutors allege that T.H. sexually assaulted and suffocated Kepner.<\/p>\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/local\/two-arrested-after-stealing-over-34k-in-designer-goods-from-palm-beach-hotel-room-palm-beach-burglary-the-breakers-hotel-luxury-bag-theft-hermes-mini-kelly-designer-handbag-theft-grand-theft-charges-hotel-room-burglary-florida-hotel-crime-couple\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Two arrested after stealing over $34K in designer goods from Palm Beach hotel room<\/a><\/p>\n<p>T.H. was reportedly removed from his mother\u2019s Titusville home and was living with relatives amid the FBI\u2019s investigation into her cruise ship death. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/cbs12.com\/news\/nation-world\/anna-kepners-stepbrother-kicked-out-of-home-as-fbi-weighs-charges-during-murder-probe-killing-death-homicide-investigation-cheerleader-carnival-cruise-ship\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">previous reports<\/a>, this change was disclosed during a Florida custody hearing where his mother testified the decision was made to \u201cremove any risk of any danger to any of the other children in the home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur hearts go out to the victim\u2019s family during this unimaginable loss,\u201d said U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdfl\/pr\/jason-reding-quinones-sworn-united-states-attorney-southern-district-florida\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Attorney Jason A. Reding Qui\u00f1ones<\/a> for the Southern District of Florida. \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. As in every case, the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n<p>JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)<\/p>\n<p>T.H. faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted, per the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 A Florida teen has been indicted as an adult on federal murder and sexual&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-230890","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\/230890","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=230890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}