Report: Teen Killed on Cruise Was Tense About Stepbrother

Six weeks after an 18-year-old cheerleader was found dead on a Carnival cruise, a Florida custody case may be offering the clearest look yet at the investigation into her homicide. Anna Kepner died Nov. 7 aboard the Carnival Horizon; she was found under a bed in a cabin she shared with her 14-year-old brother and 16-year-old stepbrother. Her death has been ruled a homicide by mechanical asphyxia, but federal investigators have released no public updates. During an emergency custody hearing on Dec. 5, however, a lawyer for Anna's stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, said the 16-year-old may face state or federal charges and is undergoing psychological and psychiatric evaluations while staying with a relative, per Fox News.

Court filings from Shauntel Kepner and Anna's father, Christopher, refer to the teen as a "suspect," though the FBI has not named any suspect or filed charges. Testimony in the family court case has also aired allegations of turmoil at home. Shauntel Kepner told the court the 16-year-old had ADHD, was on insomnia medication, and had skipped doses for two nights on the cruise, while Anna's older stepbrother, 18-year-old Andrew Hudson, alleged he had been put in a chokehold and restrained in a vehicle by Shauntel and Christopher Kepner. Shauntel Kepner's ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, even argued their 9-year-old daughter could be at risk in her care.

A judge found no immediate emergency to change custody but flagged possible contempt issues to be taken up at a Wednesday hearing in Viera. New subpoenas filed by Shauntel Kepner's attorneys require a Florida Department of Children and Families investigator and staff from Temple Christian School, where Anna was a student, to appear at the hearing and turn over years of records involving several children in the Hudson and Kepner families. Meanwhile, an aunt of Anna tells People that she was hesitant to go on the cruise after learning she would be sharing a room with her stepbrother. "She wasn't comfortable with the boy," the aunt said. "He felt she was the one who had ruined his life."