Brother-in-law charged in Anna Kepner’s death on cruise ship
Newly released court documents reveal that 18-year-old Anna Kepner’s stepbrother has been charged with murder after she died on a cruise ship in early November.
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A federal judge has reversed an order allowing Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother to remain free pending trial in the cruise ship murder case and directed the U.S. Marshals Service to take him into custody.
In a 14-page order unsealed June 15, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres granted prosecutors’ motion to revoke the boy’s release and ordered him held in U.S. marshal custody. Torres ruled that once a case is transferred to adult prosecutors, federal laws governing adult defendants, not juvenile rules, govern detention decisions.
“The government has established by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions of release provides a reasonable guarantee of future community safety,” Torres wrote in his June 10 order.
Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY network, reported that Torres had previously refused to jail the boy, whose name was not published by USA TODAY, because of his age, allowing him to be held by a family member ahead of his trial in September. The boy had been in his uncle’s custody since April, when he pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.
The June 10 order was issued in response to a request from federal prosecutors to detain Kepner pending trial in connection with his Nov. 7, 2025, death aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship.
Prosecutors said Kepner, 18, was found dead in the cruise ship cabin he shared with his siblings, ages 16 and 10. Her biological father and stepmother were staying in separate cabins across the ship’s hall.
Judge cites danger to community in new order
Torres said the decision to detain the boy was based on “danger,” not flight risk, and noted that early release conditions were sufficient to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court.
“The danger posed by the conduct charged here (alleged first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse of a young woman and the defendant’s sister-in-law while in a confinement room on a vessel at sea) is sufficient in itself to require detention,” Torres wrote in his order.
“An adult defendant charged with probable cause to intentionally take the life of another and sexually assault the victim in the process poses a danger to himself and others that cannot be mitigated by curfew, supervision, or custody,” the judge continued, later adding that the ruling was not an early conviction because “the presumption of innocence is fully intact.”
Torres also acknowledged that the suspect had no prior criminal record, turned himself in voluntarily and complied with his release conditions, according to the order. But the judge wrote that such considerations were outweighed by the seriousness of the alleged conduct, particularly given that there were no warning signs before the charged offenses.
The U.S. Marshals Service will transport the suspect to South Florida, where he will be held at the Miami-Dade County MetroWest Detention Center pending trial.
The murder trial begins September 1 in Miami’s Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Courthouse. If convicted, the boy could be sentenced to life in prison. The deadline to enter into a plea agreement is set for Aug. 28, according to court records.
Court documents provide details about Anna Kepner’s death
At a hearing in May, prosecutors confirmed that DNA evidence recovered from Kepner’s body through a rape kit was linked to the teenage suspect. Torres heard testimony detailing how Kepner died, which prosecutors said was strangulation.
Torres also decided to release a transcript of the February hearing obtained by USA TODAY. Records show that the coroner found bleeding under the skin on the side and back of Kepner’s neck, indicating she had been strangled. Her cause of death was determined to be mechanical asphyxiation.
The coroner also found a large bruise on her left ear, suggesting Kepner had been strangled “with enough force to cause such bruising and blood in the ear area,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra L. Lopez said at the hearing.
Kepner’s body was wrapped in blankets, stuffed under a bed and hidden in a box of life jackets in the cabin he shared with his brother-in-law and half-brother. DNA found in Kepner’s body came back as a strong match to her brother-in-law, records show.
Contributor: Melina Khan, USA TODAY
