The subpoenas, filed by attorneys for Anna\u2019s stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, indicate that witnesses from both the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Temple Christian School<\/a>, where Anna was a student, have been ordered to appear at a Wednesday afternoon custody hearing in Viera, Florida.<\/p>\n According to the filings, those subpoenaed include DCF investigator Glora Thomas, along with Temple Christian School staff members Gabi Brunner, Karen Ross and Rich Brunner, who were each directed to produce records involving several of the Hudson and Kepner children.<\/p>\n The latest activity comes as federal authorities continue to investigate Anna\u2019s death aboard the Carnival Horizon on Nov. 7, after she was found under the bed in her stateroom she shared with her 14-year-old brother and 16-year-old stepbrother. Her death has been ruled a homicide<\/a> by mechanical asphyxia.<\/p>\n Anna Kepner was identified by her family as the passenger who died onboard the Carnival Horizon. (Instagram\/Anna Kepner)<\/p>\n CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP DEATH: FAMILY DYNAMICS MAY EXPLAIN INVESTIGATORS\u2019 SILENCE, LEGAL EXPERT SAYS<\/a><\/p>\n Criminal defense attorney and Fox News Contributor Donna Rotunno previously told Fox News Digital that the silence from investigators may reflect the complexity of a case if the potential perpetrator\u2019s family live under the same roof.<\/p>\n “It is odd we haven\u2019t heard anything,” Rotunno said. “But I think there\u2019s a reason for it. When you\u2019re dealing with essentially one family, authorities have to be careful about what they put out there. You don\u2019t want to tip off what\u2019s going on when your victim\u2019s family and your perpetrator\u2019s family are in the same house.”<\/p>\n Rotunno said Anna\u2019s cause of death may also be contributing to the silence.<\/p>\n “They may not know if they can prove what happened yet,” she said. “Mechanical asphyxia could be argued as accidental or something that went too far. Investigators may still be sorting out what the evidence supports.”<\/p>\n READ THE SUBPOENA \u2013 APP USERS, CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n Despite the unusual posture, an emergency custody hearing<\/a> on Dec. 5 yielded the most substantive developments since the cruise ship death.<\/p>\n During that hearing, Shauntel\u2019s attorney, Millicent Athanason, noted that Anna’s 16-year-old stepbrother may soon face state or federal charges.<\/a><\/p>\n “We\u2019re not sure what the FBI is going to do,” Athanason said. “Whether he\u2019s going to be charged federally or whether they\u2019re going to turn it over to the state.”<\/p>\n Shauntel and Anna\u2019s father, Christopher Kepner, have referred to the 16-year-old in court filings as a “suspect” and the subject of an FBI investigation. Federal authorities have not announced a suspect or charges.<\/p>\n Athanason told the court the teen is currently staying with a relative as investigators await “psychological and psychiatric” test results, saying that “they don\u2019t know at this time how long that child is going to be at her relative\u2019s house.”<\/p>\n The FBI declined to comment on Athanason\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n From left to right, Chris Kepner, Shauntel Kepner and Jeffrey Kepner arrive at court in Melbourne, Florida, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. The trio headed to an emergency custody hearing in an ongoing dispute between Shauntel and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n CRUISE TRAGEDY: \u2018I AM NOT OKAY,\u2019 SAYS MOTHER OF 18-YEAR-OLD FOUND DEAD ABOARD CARNIVAL SHIP<\/a><\/p>\n During the previous family court hearing, Shauntel testified that the 16-year-old had been diagnosed with ADHD<\/a> and was taking medication for insomnia, which she said he had skipped for two nights on the cruise.<\/p>\n Testimony from Anna\u2019s older stepbrother, 18-year-old Andrew Hudson, introduced new allegations of volatility in the household. Andrew said that he was placed in a chokehold and restrained in a vehicle by Shauntel and Christopher.<\/p>\n Thomas Hudson, Shauntel\u2019s ex-husband and the father of her youngest daughter, also testified, arguing that his 9-year-old child may be at risk under Shauntel\u2019s supervision in the wake of Anna\u2019s death. He accused Christopher of interfering with custody exchanges<\/a>.<\/p>\n The judge found no emergency requiring a change in custody but noted possible contempt issues that will be addressed at Wednesday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n Anna Kepner, her father, stepmother and several siblings in a family photo. (Shauntel Kepner\/Facebook)<\/p>\n DCF was ordered to produce years of intake notes, medical records and investigative files related to the family, dating back to 2007, ahead of Wednesday afternoon\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n Temple Christian School personnel were asked to produce attendance records, behavior reports and academic documentation for two of the Hudson children.<\/p>\n The hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Moore Justice Center.<\/p>\n Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n You can follow her on Twitter <\/a>and LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! As federal investigators approach six weeks with no public updates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7106,6819,28,30,29,1109,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-86609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-crime-world","9":"tag-cruises","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-homicide","14":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86609","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=86609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Anna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/carnival-horizon-02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Carnival](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/carnival-cruise-death-parents-court-fox-news-02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Kepner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765974076_712_kepner-family.png\")
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