Federal prosecutors say the 16-year-old was indicted in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister aboard a Carnival ship returning to Miami.
MIAMI, FL — A 16-year-old Florida boy has been charged as an adult in federal court in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister, who authorities say was sexually assaulted and killed aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship while it was traveling in international waters last November.
The case moved into public view this week after months of sealed juvenile proceedings and an order shifting the prosecution into adult court. Federal prosecutors say the teenager, identified in court records as T.H. of Titusville, now faces first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse charges in the death of Anna Kepner. The move raises the stakes sharply because, if he is convicted, prosecutors say he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
According to court records, Kepner was traveling with family members on Carnival Cruise Line’s Horizon on or about Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, 2025, as the ship headed back toward Miami. She was sharing a cabin with two other teens, including her younger stepbrother. Before the trip ended, her body was found concealed under a bed in the room. Prosecutors say the killing happened while the vessel was in international waters, which put the case in federal court rather than state court. The Justice Department said the teen was first charged by juvenile information on Feb. 2. He later pleaded not guilty in sealed proceedings. The fuller outline of the case became public only after U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ordered the matter transferred for adult prosecution. In a written statement, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said the indictment alleges “serious offenses” aboard a vessel in international waters.
The charging documents and public statements lay out the broad accusation but leave major details unproven and many questions unanswered. Prosecutors say T.H. sexually assaulted and intentionally killed Kepner. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death a homicide caused by mechanical asphyxiation, meaning her breathing was cut off by force or pressure. Court filings cited by prosecutors say there was no obvious conflict between the two that might explain the attack. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra López argued in one filing that the defendant allegedly committed the crimes against a person “he was being raised to view as a sibling.” Authorities have not publicly described all of the physical evidence they intend to present at trial, and no public affidavit released Monday gave a full narrative of what investigators believe happened inside the cabin. Defense lawyers, for their part, had not publicly laid out a detailed response to the adult indictment as of Tuesday.
Kepner’s death shocked her family and community in Titusville, a city on Florida’s Space Coast about 40 miles east of Orlando. Public remembrances described her as a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School and a teenager with close ties to family and friends. At her memorial service in November, relatives asked mourners to wear bright colors in place of black to reflect what they called her bright spirit. The community attention around the case has only grown as more court records have been unsealed. Cases involving teenagers charged in federal court are uncommon, and the setting added another layer of attention because the alleged crimes took place on a cruise ship beyond state waters. That jurisdictional detail mattered from the start. Federal officials, not local state prosecutors, took the lead, and the FBI’s Miami field office opened the investigation after the ship returned to PortMiami. The shift from a sealed juvenile case to a public adult prosecution also changed what the public could see about the investigation and the court fight over custody.
The legal path has become almost as closely watched as the underlying allegations. The Justice Department said a federal grand jury returned the adult indictment on March 10, though the case remained sealed for weeks. Judge Bloom later ordered the prosecution transferred out of juvenile court. Public records show the teen has remained out of secure detention since his February arrest and has been living under the supervision of an uncle. A judge ordered him on Feb. 6 to wear an electronic tether, according to unsealed records. That order was later modified to let him spend a few days working with his father at a landscaping business. Prosecutors objected and asked the court this week to revisit his release, arguing that the allegations and the government’s assessment of dangerousness justify tighter custody now that he is being prosecuted as an adult. AP reported that defense lawyers were given a week to respond. No trial date had been announced publicly by Tuesday, and the court docket is now expected to draw closer attention as both sides argue over detention, evidence and the schedule for pretrial motions.
The family’s public statements have underscored both grief and frustration. Christopher Kepner, Anna Kepner’s father, said in a statement that the family was placing its “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity.” He also said the family was troubled that the accused teen had not been taken into custody despite the seriousness of the allegations. That tension has become one of the clearest public fault lines in the case: prosecutors are pressing for a tougher detention decision, while the defense has so far preserved the teen’s release under supervision. Outside the courtroom, the facts remain stark and spare. A young woman left home for a family vacation and did not return. A cruise cabin became the center of a homicide investigation. A sealed juvenile matter then turned into an adult federal murder case. The next phase is likely to be less about the initial headlines and more about motions, forensic evidence and witness testimony as the court decides how the prosecution will move forward.
As of Tuesday, the teen remained charged in federal court with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse, and prosecutors were seeking another review of his release conditions. The next milestone is the defense response on detention and the court’s decision on whether he stays under family supervision as the case moves deeper into adult proceedings.
Author note: Last updated April 14, 2026.