The step-grandmother of Timothy Hudson, a 16-year-old accused of sexually assaulting and murdering his stepsister Anna Kepner, is calling for charges against the teens’ father. She blames him for permitting the siblings to drink and share a room during the ill-fated cruise.
Sonya Ziske, speaking with CBS News, staunchly defended Hudson. She expressed her belief that the tragedy was largely influenced by “alcohol” and “missing meds,” factors she claims played a significant role in the incident that Hudson says he cannot recall.
Ziske is urging that both Christopher Kepner, the father of the teens, and Shauntel Kepner, Hudson’s mother, be held accountable. She criticized them for what she described as a “lack of parental supervision on a cruise ship, which is often akin to a floating Sin City.”
In her comments to CBS News, she highlighted the dangers of “not ensuring medication is taken or available before departure, along with allowing drinking and placing three teenagers—two boys and a girl who were not raised together—in the same room.”
“It’s just a recipe for disaster,” she concluded.
Kepner, a bubbly, 18-year-old high school cheerleader, was found dead wrapped in a blanket and life jackets under her bed while on a Caribbean Carnival Cruise with family members in November in a cabin where she and Hudson had been rooming together on the six-day vacation.
Officials determined that Kepner was strangled and had been sexually assaulted. Hudson was charged with her murder — first as a juvenile and then as an adult.
Ziske — Shauntel Kepner’s stepmom — helped raise the accused killer, and denied reports that he was “raised to think of [Anna Kepner] as a sister.”
Hudson told his family that he has no memory of what happened, and Ziske “absolutely” believes it was due to a mixture of his medication — or lack of it — and booze. She said his story has remained consistent.
“He truly does not remember,” Ziske said. “Timothy has said that they were drinking. I believe 100% those kids were drinking on the ship.”
“He did not change from all the interviews that he has had. He has not changed what he has said at all. If there was any type of memory there, he wouldn’t be able to say the same exact thing,” Ziske insisted.
Shauntel and Chris Kepner have previously denied the children were drinking through their attorney during a family court hearing related to a custody battle, according to CBS News.
Shauntel Kepner’s attorney, Millicent Athanason, told a previous hearing that “there are videotapes on the ship that confirmed that there was absolutely no drinking.
Hudson has pleaded not guilty to the charges and, despite being charged as an adult, a federal judge has allowed him to stay with maternal uncle ahead of his trial.
Ziske claimed Christopher and Shauntel Kepner are unfit to have custody of the remaining children after Anna’s death on the cruise ship.
Shauntel “kept them isolated from everybody over here. From their dad, from their grandparents. From all of us,” Ziske said. “So, I don’t know the past two years. Like, if he was angry, or his mental state, I don’t know any of that.”
CBS News said an attorney for Chris and Shauntel Kepner did not respond to a request for comment.