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Anna Kepner’s teenage stepbrother faces serious allegations of sexually assaulting and then strangling her to death during a family cruise vacation.
On April 13, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida revealed that a federal grand jury had indicted Anna’s 16-year-old stepbrother, known only by the initials T.H., on charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse related to her tragic death in 2025.
In November 2025, Anna, who was 18 years old, was enjoying a vacation with her family aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Horizon when authorities claim T.H. “sexually assaulted and intentionally killed” her.
The accused teenager, who has entered a not guilty plea to the charges, allegedly coerced the cheerleader into “engaging in a sexual act” and assaulted her before her death, as detailed in an indictment accessed by The New York Post.
According to prosecutors, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Anna’s cause of death was “mechanical asphyxiation.”
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that she died of “mechanical asphyxiation,” prosecutors said.
Her body was discovered by a maid cleaning the cabin on the morning of Nov. 7, the Post reported. She had been wrapped in a blanket, covered in life jackets and shoved underneath a bed.
“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family during this unimaginable loss,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement from authorities. “A 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.”
Prosecutors Charge Anna Kepner’s Stepbrother as an Adult
Although prosecutors initially charged T.H. as a juvenile on Feb. 2, they later made the decision to try him as an adult.
The teen entered a plea of not guilty at the time of his arrest and was released into the custody of a family member as he awaited trial, according to The New York Times.
After moving the charges into the adult court system, federal prosecutors filed court documents on April 13 asking a judge to revoke his release, arguing that he presented a “danger to others” and had committed “the most serious, egregious and violative crimes one person can inflict on another.”
“He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling,” prosecutors wrote in the court documents obtained by The New York Times. “Furthermore, he carried out these crimes without any warning he could commit such atrocious acts, and despite an apparent supportive family environment.”
Anna’s father, Chris Kepner, told NBC News after the indictment that he believed his stepson should be in custody, adding “justice needs to be served.”
An attorney representing T.H.’s mother Shauntel Hudson Kepner declined to comment on the case to NBC News.
Who Was Anna Kepner?
At the time of her death, Anna—affectionately known to her family as “Anna Banana”—had been a high school senior with plans to join the U.S. Navy after graduation.
“Anna was pure energy: bubbly, funny, outgoing, and completely herself,” read her obituary. “She never had a filter, and that was part of her charm. Whether she was practicing new makeup looks (even if she had nowhere to go), making TikToks in front of the mirror, or blasting a perfectly curated playlist on the boat, Anna lived every day with her whole heart.”
The family added that she had loved her siblings deeply and enjoyed spending time with them.
“She had a big, beautiful heart,” they continued, “often sending random ‘I love you’ messages or little gestures that made someone’s day.”
If convicted of the charges against him, T.H. could face a maximum sentence of life prison.