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Relatives of Florida cheerleader Anna Kepner, who died aboard a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month under mysterious circumstances, have revealed new details about who they think is responsible for her death, although no charges or arrests have been announced by authorities.
Carnival staff found Anna dead in her room aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise liner around 11:15 a.m. on Nov. 7, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office. An official cause and manner of death have not yet been made public, but her grandparents said in a new interview the FBI told them that investigators suspected asphyxiation.
Her 16-year-old stepbrother has emerged as a “suspect,” according to court filings in a bitter custody battle between Shauntel Kepner, Anna’s stepmother, and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson.
“Chris knew about the creepiness of the stepson,” Anna’s aunt, Krystal Wright, told Fox News Digital, referring to Anna’s father, Chris Kepner.
CRUISE SHIP DEATH: CHEERLEADER’S STEPMOM COULD BE FORCED TO TESTIFY AGAINST HER OWN SON
Anna Kepner was identified by her family as the passenger who died onboard the Carnival Horizon. (Instagram/Anna Kepner)
She said Anna’s ex-boyfriend informed the family earlier this year of an encounter he witnessed over a FaceTime video call, in which Anna fell asleep, and her stepbrother allegedly came into the room and climbed “on top of her.”
The teen boyfriend recounted the incident himself to the media after Anna’s funeral last week, saying that he shouted at the stepbrother, who ran out of the room. He said Anna felt “uncomfortable” around her stepbrother.
Still, Anna and her stepbrother were staying in the same room aboard the cruise ship, family members have said in multiple interviews.
FBI INVESTIGATES CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP DEATH IN MARITIME MYSTERY THAT CAN BE ‘VERY COMPLEX,’ FORMER AGENT SAYS
Anna Kepner, her father, stepmother and several siblings in a family photo. (Shauntel Kepner/Facebook)
“He was in a room with her,” Anna’s grandmother, Barbara, told “Good Morning America” in an interview that aired Monday morning. “He was the only one seen coming and going.”
Investigators have recovered surveillance video and key card records from the ship.
“I can’t accuse him, because I don’t know what happened in that room, but the summation would be that he did something,” she added.
ANNA KEPNER DIES MYSTERIOUSLY DURING FAMILY VACATION ON CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP: TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Jeff Kepner arrives to a memorial service for his granddaughter, Anna Kepner, at the Grove Church in Titusville, Florida, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. The 18 year-old cheerleader was reportedly found dead under a bed on a Carnival Cruise on Nov. 7. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital)
She said she heard him say in “his own words” that he doesn’t remember what happened, and “he was an emotional mess” after Anna’s death.
The 16-year-old stepbrother has not been charged with a crime as of Monday morning.
Shauntel Kepner, his mom and Anna’s stepmother, is asking the judge overseeing her custody battle for a gag order in that case, arguing that the publicity could impact his right to a fair trial if he ends up being charged.
The filing hinted at investigations by Florida’s Department of Children and Families in three counties that may be linked to the case.
Read the motion:
When asked what justice looks like for the family, the grandmother replied that it’s “whatever the law says.”
NO CAUSE OF DEATH FOR CHEERLEADER FOUND DEAD ON CRUISE SHIP AS REPORT REVEALS REMAINS FOUND HIDDEN UNDER BED
“I’m not gonna look for anything more or anything less, and that’s for the courts to decide,” she said.
In a TikTok video, Anna’s biological mom, who moved to Oklahoma when her daughter was 4, called the decision to leave Florida the worst mistake she’d ever made. She said Anna’s father, Christopher Kepner, made it “extremely hard” for her to keep in touch with her daughter over the years, to see her or to be part of her life.
“I loved my daughter — let me get that straight right now,” Heather Wright said. “My children are my world. And even though I wasn’t in her life, it doesn’t mean I didn’t think about her every day.”
Anna Kepner’s estranged biological mother, Heather Wright, has opened up about her daughter’s mysterious cruise ship death in a series of TikTok videos. (Heather Wright/TikTok)
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In the caption of another post, she wrote that Anna’s father and stepmother didn’t even contact her after their cruise ship returned to Miami the morning after she’d been found dead in her room, hidden under the bed.
Her sister, Krystal Wright, told Fox News Digital that their side of the family learned about Anna’s death through the news and that Heather had been told not to go to her daughter’s memorial service last week.