Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother raped her before he murdered her on their family cruise vacation, the feds alleged for the first time Monday while charging him as an adult.
The boy, only identified as T.H. in charging documents, is facing life in prison for allegedly strangling his 18-year-old stepsister on the Carnival Cruise ship Horizon in November and stuffing her body underneath the bed in a room they shared.
The suspect was in February first charged as a juvenile for killing his cheerleader stepsister.
Anna Kepner was killed while on a cruise with her family in November 2025.
Cheerleader Anna Kepner was 18 years old at the time of her death.
He has now been indicted by a federal grand jury for first-degree murder — as well as aggravated sexual assault, the Department of Justice announced, while still referring to him only as “T.H., a minor” despite charging him as an adult.
Anna Kepner was allegedly raped then intentionally killed, charging documents stated.
The 16-year-old, who reportedly had a twisted obsession with the high school senior, “sexually assaulted and intentionally killed” Kepner, the DOJ said.
He forced Kepner to “engage in a sexual act” and penetrated her, the superseding indictment alleges.
Kepner died from mechanical asphyxiation after her stepbrother held her in a bar hold, officials previously ruled.
Anna Kepner with her family in an undated photo.
Facebook/Shauntel Kepner
Kepner’s younger brother ended up sleeping just feet away from his sister’s lifeless body.
Her body was found the morning of Nov. 7, wrapped in a blanket, covered in life jackets, and shoved underneath a bed by a maid who was cleaning the cabin while on a six-day Caribbean cruise.
After the grisly discovery, the ship made a beeline for the Port of Miami.
Kepner — known affectionately by her family as “Anna Banana” — was set to graduate from Temple Christian School in Titusville in May.
The gymnast and cheerleader had just finished her test to join the military, her family said.
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