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Federal authorities revealed on Monday that Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother faces adult charges for sexually assaulting and murdering her during a family cruise.
Identified only as T.H., the teenager is accused of strangling his 18-year-old stepsister aboard the Carnival Cruise ship Horizon last November, subsequently concealing her body under the bed in their shared cabin.
Initially charged as a juvenile in February for Kepner’s murder, T.H. has now been indicted as an adult by a federal grand jury on counts of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault, according to the Department of Justice.
The DOJ stated that the accused “sexually assaulted and intentionally killed” Kepner.
Authorities had previously determined that the Florida cheerleader’s cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation.
Kepner’s body was found by a maid who was cleaning the cabin.
If convicted, T.H. faces life in prison.