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Each year, millions of people board cruise ships to set sail toward new destinations, using their time to unplug from day-to-day responsibilities while making new memories with family & friends. The majority of these vacations end without a hitch, but every once in a while, tragedy happens on board.
Of the millions of passengers who sail annually, approximately 200-300 people die on cruise ships each year with the majority of deaths resulting from natural causes, such as heart attacks or pre-existing medical conditions rather than accidents or foul play. About 19-25 deaths are a result of guests falling overboard while some are from suicide & less commonly, murder. However, the actual number is likely higher due to limited reporting requirements across international jurisdictions.
On Sunday, November 2, 2025, 18-year-old Anna Kepner boarded the Carnival Horizon cruise ship in the Port of Miami for a six-night trip with her blended family that included a group of nine. The itinerary for their Western Caribbean cruise included stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman & Cozumel before returning to Miami on Saturday, November 8. However, what was meant to be a fun trip ended in absolute tragedy & Anna was dead before the ship docked back in Miami.
Anna was born on June 13, 2007 to parents Christopher Kepner & Heather Wright. After her parents divorced in 2009 when Anna would have been two, Heather relocated to Oklahoma. Sources indicate that during their marriage, Chris had an inappropriate relationship with their 15-year-old nanny, Tabitha Harper.
According to a 2008 court filing, Tabitha’s mother, Christina Donohue, requested a sexual violence injunction against Chris, who would have been about 24-years-old at the time, but the charges were later dismissed & Tabitha & Chris went on to marry three years later in 2011. The couple had two children together, a son & a daughter, Connor & Kylie, before Tabitha filed for divorce in 2023.
In the meantime, she had been a major parental figure through much of Anna’s childhood as her biological mother Heather struggled with drug addiction.
In December 2024, Chris, who works as a crane operator, married Shauntel Hudson, his third wife. After divorcing her husband in February 2023, Shauntel & her ex, Thomas Hudson, began a contentious custody battle over their three children, 18-year-old Andrew, a 16-year-old son who will be referred to as TH & their 9-year-old daughter, Brooke.
From what I’ve been able to piece together from online sources, as of 2025 Anna had two half-siblings, 14-year-old Connor & 9-year-old Kylie & 3 step siblings, 18-year-old Andrew, 16-year-old TH & 9-year-old Brooke. Her obituary also mentions two other siblings, Alex & Cody.
According to her obituary, Anna, who was lovingly referred to by her family as Anna Banana, was described as a bright light who was pure energy, bubbly, fun, outgoing & completely herself. She was a deeply faithful person who was a member of The Grove Church & she had a very adventurous spirit. She got her boater’s license even before her driver’s license & she absolutely loved the water. She was scuba certified & able to dive alongside her family.
Anna attended Titusville High School along Florida’s Space Coast, a location that earned its name due to its proximity to Kennedy Space Center & Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Here, she was a member of the varsity cheer team before transferring to Astronaut High School & then finally, Temple Christian School. She was a straight A student, a senior who was preparing to graduate with the class of 2026. She had been involved in gymnastics since 2-years-old & dreamed of one day being part of the Georgia Bulldog’s cheerleading squad.
After graduation this spring, Anna planned to join the U.S. Navy with the eventual goal of becoming a K9 police officer.
Based on an August 1, 2025 TikTok post, Anna had a very strained relationship with her biological mother, Heather. She wrote about how she’s watched her mom ruin her own life & also try to ruin hers, how all she cared about was herself & drugs. She went on to write that her mom was in jail & she hoped she would learn something from it.
In another TikTok she posted on August 20, 2025, she expressed her gratitude toward her dad & stepmom who had been there for her for all of her recent events & milestones.
Anna was exceptionally excited for their cruise since she was a lover of the sun & the ocean. She boarded the Carnival Horizon at the Port of Miami on Sunday, November 2, 2025 for a six-night trip with her blended family of nine, including Anna. The group included her dad, 41-year old Chris Kepner, his 36-year-old wife, Shauntel Kepner, her 14-year-old half-brother Connor, her 16-year-old stepbrother TH, her 9-year-old stepsister Brooke & her 9-year-old half-sister Kylie. Chris’ parents’ 59-year-old Jeff & 63-year-old Barbara Kepner had paid for the tickets & were joining the family.
Although Anna had her own bedroom at home, on the cruise, she was sharing a cabin on the 8th deck with 16-year-old TH & 14-year-old Connor while their parents were across the hall with Brooke & Kylie. Barbara & Jeff had their own room two floors above.
According to Shauntel, Anna had been given the choice of which room to stay in during the trip & she chose to stay with TH & Connor, who she described as the three amigos & best friends.
Barbara Kepner agreed with this sentiment, saying that Anna & TH were like brother & sister, two peas in a pod who cared about each other. Since Barbara & Jeff had a larger room with an extra bed, they told the teens that if they weren’t getting along, they could move into their room.
However, Anna’s relationship with her stepbrother, TH, was described very differently by her ex-boyfriend, Josh Tew. After her death, Josh indicated that TH made Anna highly uncomfortable due to his sexual advances. He went on to say that she wanted to stay over at her friends’ houses whenever possible to avoid him, but because Shauntel was controlling, this was often not possible.
According to Josh, during one of their FaceTime calls when Anna had fallen asleep, he saw TH trying to climb on top of her in the middle of the night. Shocked at what he was seeing, he yelled out to TH, asking him what he was doing & TH got scared & ran off. Josh claimed that when he informed Chris & Shauntel of the incident, they hadn’t believed him.
When Josh’s father later spoke with Inside Edition, he indicated that according to his son, TH was infatuated with Anna & always wanted to date her. She was scared of him since he always carried around a big knife.
The ship the family had boarded, the Carnival Horizon, holds nearly 4,000 guests & 1,500 crew & the family were scheduled to leave the Port Miami between 3:30 & 4 pm on that Sunday, November 2, 2025.
While Monday was a day at sea, on Tuesday & Wednesday they stopped off at Ocho Rios, Jamaica & Georgetown, Grand Cayman. On Thursday, November 6 they headed to Cozumel, Mexico before beginning their two-day journey back to Miami.
During dinner on Thursday evening, Anna complained that she wasn’t feeling well as her braces were bothering her so she said she was going back to her cabin. TH & Connor followed sometime later.
According to Barbara, Anna must have been feeling better since she came back out dressed up & met them at the casino. When she headed back to the room for the night at about 7 pm, she said, Meemaw, I love you guys, I’ll see you later. This was sadly the last time Barbara saw her granddaughter.
According to Shauntel, when she went back to her cabin that was just across the hall from the teens at 7:30 pm that night, she had no reason to check on them before she went to bed.
When Connor came back to the room after dinner, he changed his clothes before going back out to take photos around the ship. When he came back later to go to bed & only TH was there, he just assumed Anna was staying up late with the adults.
The following morning, Friday, November 7, as the family got together for breakfast, they realized that Anna was missing. As Chris began looking for her around the ship, Jeff was off buying bingo cards. He recalls hearing an overhead announcement about a medical emergency & when he heard his granddaughter’s cabin number read off, he immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
In the meantime, Chris had just returned to Anna’s room at 11:17 am when the cleaning crew made a shocking discovery; Anna’s body was found crammed under her bed, wrapped in a blanket & covered by life vests.
When the ship docked in Miami the following morning, FBI agents were waiting to board in order to start their investigation. While no one was detained or held in custody, Anna’s 16-year-old stepbrother was checked into a mental health facility for evaluation before being released to another relative.
After Anna’s body was removed from the ship, court documents indicate that her cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation from what is known as a bar hold, an arm across the neck. Investigators also found two bruises on the side of her neck. Because the investigation is active & ongoing, the medical examiner’s office has not released the autopsy results.
Preliminary information indicates there were no signs of a sexual assault & there did not appear to be drugs or alcohol in her system, however, the reports that could confirm those details have not been completed. Although her time of death is listed at 11:17 am on Friday, November 7, this was the time that Anna’s body had been found by the cleaning crew. She was no doubt killed the previous night as according to Connor, he didn’t see his sister when he came back to the room to go to sleep on Thursday night.
According to Anna’s ex-boyfriend Josh, after the family had gotten off the ship, Connor told him about a terrible fight between TH & Anna while they were in their locked cabin on Thursday night. Connor had been unable to get into the room, but he could hear TH yelling at Anna in a harmful way. He heard him tell her to shut the hell up while he could also hear banging around the room that sounded like chairs being thrown.
Court records that discuss text messages exchanged between Shauntel & her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, Shauntel texted Thomas at 7:34 pm following the discovery of Anna’s body. She wrote, I need you to call me asap it’s an emergency.
The following day when she texted again, she explained that during the less than two minutes she was able to talk to their son, he continued to repeat that he couldn’t remember anything. Hudson responded, I just want him to know that he isn’t just dead to everyone. Regardless of everything at the moment he needs his parents I know you know that. I just would like to have a chance to talk with him as soon as possible. Shauntel went on to assure him that the Kepner family told him that he wasn’t alone.
In the meantime, Shauntel took to Facebook, asking people to give the family privacy as the case began gaining national attention. She tried to reassure her ex-husband by reminding him that because their son was a minor, no one knew anything about him. She went on to text, We’ll know exactly more when the autopsy is done. Once we get the autopsy today, depending on what it says, depends on whether he’s booked on these charges.
Former sheriff’s detective & investigator Jamie Copenhaver was vocal about his opinion that the family seemed more concerned about PR, optics & protecting family members than Anna’s death. It was also his belief that they knew more than what they were revealing & were keeping quiet in order to protect TH.
Anna’s uncle Martin Donohue, who is related to Chris’ second wife, Tabitha Harper, posted to Facebook, venting his frustrations that Anna’s father was keeping quiet despite it being obvious that TH was responsible for her death. He accused TH of murdering Anna, stuffing her naked, beaten body under the bed & sleeping there as if nothing happened, allowing the family to search the ship the following morning, all the while knowing exactly where Anna was.
On November 11, Shauntel & Thomas Hudson finalized an agreement to turn their son over to the care & supervision of a family member on Florida’s gulf coast after Shauntel indicated that he couldn’t come back to the home he once shared with Anna’s father.
They also discussed the prescription medication their son was taking & gave the family member the power of attorney to allow TH counseling & medical treatment if needed. According to a December 5 court hearing, TH was taking medication for ADHD & insomnia, but he had not taken the insomnia medication for two nights of the cruise, including the night before Anna’s body was found.
While Hudson begged to talk to their 9-year-old daughter, Brooke, who had been very close with Anna. However, Shauntel explained that she didn’t want to talk. By November 14, when Hudson texted Shauntel, she told him to direct his questions & concerns to her attorney.
Brooke was later given counseling through the Florida Department of Children & Family Services shortly after Anna’s memorial that was held on November 20.
During an interview with ABC News, Anna’s paternal grandparents, Barbara & Jeffrey, who were onboard at the time of her death, were asked if they thought TH had anything to do with their granddaughter’s death. Barbara indicated that because TH had been the only one seen coming & going, the assumption would be that he was the one responsible.
She went on to say that during TH’s interview with the FBI, he was an emotional mess & couldn’t even speak or believe what happened. Although she described him as a good student who was quiet & a soccer player, she also said that he was someone who had demons in his past, something he had been trying to deal with.
When a passenger dies aboard a cruise ship, family is informed & the body is moved to the ship’s morgue. Depending on where the ship is headed, the first suitable port for docking is determined. The body is then handed over to local authorities. Depending on the circumstances, arrangements are then made to transport the body back to the decedent’s home state or country.
Although the morgue aboard a ship is typically small, each ship has refrigerated, stainless steel rooms on the lowest deck of the vessel that can accommodate anywhere between 2 & 10 bodies.
Deaths are recorded in the ship’s log & the appropriate jurisdiction is notified. For the most part, if the ship departs from the U.S., it would be U.S. law enforcement who are involved.
Crew members are trained to not only treat the body with care & respect, but also the grieving family members who are on board.
After Anna’s death was shared on the Facebook page of Temple Christian School on November 10, students began covering her car in the parking lot with flowers.
One week later, Shauntel filed a motion seeking to postpone a court hearing regarding her ongoing custody battle with her husband due to the active FBI investigation & the fact that a criminal case might be initiated against their son.
When a celebration of life was held on November 20 at Grove Church where everyone wore blue in honor of Anna, her mother, Heather Wright, indicated that she planned to attend in a disguise since she hadn’t been invited.
Heather indicated that Chris hadn’t told her about their daughter’s death & after she had been unable to reach Anna via phone & TikTok, she learned the horrific news after Googling, 18-year-old died on cruise ship. Heather admits that before Anna’s death, the extent of their relationship were phone calls to Anna on her birthday & holidays.
According to Scott Robinson, a Brevard-based criminal defense lawyer, there were a number of reasons why charges had not yet been filed against TH despite the passage of months after Anna’s death. He went on to say that law enforcement was taking their time, dotting every i & crossing every t in order to get justice & fully prosecute the right person. There was an added complexity since a minor is involved as well as the fact that her death occurred on a cruise ship.
Authorities needed to speak with employees, review videos, key card entries, process DNA & fingerprints & talk with various passengers.
What is known about the case comes almost entirely from court documents as there has been no information or updates regarding the investigation shared by local police or federal agents. In a statement made by Chris, he felt that the best course of action is to allow the FBI to do what they’re doing.
On February 3, 2026, three months after Anna’s murder, her 16-year-old stepbrother TH was arrested & charged with her murder. Because he is a minor, he remains unnamed & his specific charges have not been announced. Court records are sealed & will remain so unless he’s charged as an adult. When he appeared in court on February 6 for a hearing, the media was not allowed into the courtroom due to the seal.
According to the investigation, it’s likely Anna was strangled during an altercation in which TH may have been under the influence of alcohol.
In an emergency filing dated February 20, attorneys representing Thomas Hudson, TH’s father, indicate that some of the members of the Kepner family have posted threats to social media indicating they want TH buried with nails in the coffin. He also alleges that the children may have been allowed to drink while onboard the Horizon & alleges a lack of supervision of the children & an inappropriate living arrangement.
In these latest documents Hudson is seeking sole custody of their 9-year-old daughter since he feels it’s not in the best interest of the child to be living with her stepfather after TH has been accused of his daughter’s murder. He feels he will be better able to shield her from the intense media scrutiny in her brother’s case.
Since Anna’s death, neither Shauntel nor Chris have seen TH & the children within their home have since transitioned to homeschooling to avoid the media attention.
We want to remember Anna Kepner as not just a headline or a tragedy aboard a cruise ship, but as an 18-year-old girl who had only just begun to start her life. She was set to graduate from high school in two short months, she planned to join the Navy with the goal of eventually becoming a K9 police officer. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend & someone who had goals & plans that she never got the chance to see through.
Cruises are supposed to be a place of fun & relaxation, a time for families to make new memories. When violence happens in the midst of the ocean, it reminds us how fragile life is & how everything can change in an instant.
As we await the ongoing investigation & trial, those who love Anna continue to live with questions, grief & a future that looks entirely different with Anna no longer in this world.
References:
- Wikipedia: Space Coast
- North Brevard Funeral Home: Anna Marie Kepner
- Court TV: What happened to Anna Kepner?
- Court TV: Charges filed in Anna Kepner’s cruise ship death
- ABC News: Teen found dead on Carnival cruise died by asphyxiation, possibly resulting from a bar-hold
- ABC News: Anna Kepner’s death on cruise ship ruled a homicide
- Florida Today: Kepner case: Court records show family texts shared after teen’s death
- Florida Today: What happens when someone dies aboard a cruise ship? We find out how it’s handled
- Florida Today: No arrests made 2 months after Anna Kepner’s body found on cruise ship
- People: Anna Kepner timeline: Final days of Florida teen before cruise ship murder
- People: A Florida family’s cruise turns tragic: Who killed Anna Kepner?
- Fox 35: Anna Kepner: Text messages reveal conversations hours after teen’s death aboard cruise ship
- Fox 35: Anna Kepner update: Teen ‘suspect’ said ‘he can’t remember anything’ about girl’s cruise ship death, mom says
- Facebook post: Martin Donohue
- Facebook: True Crime Kelly: Anna Kepner’s family tree
- USA Today: What happened to Anna Kepner? Stepbrother named suspect in cruise ship death
- Yahoo News: Anna Kepner’s brother allegedly heard screaming coming from cabin before teen’s death
- Case Files for Missing & Endangered: Anna Kepner
- Anna Kepner TikTok
- NewsNation: Anna Kepner’s mom speaks out after daughter’s cruise ship death
