Teen indicted in cruise ship killing of stepsister Anna Kepner

A 16-year-old Titusville boy has been indicted as an adult for the killing of his stepsister, Anna Kepner, after prosecutors say the case crossed into federal court because it unfolded aboard a cruise ship in international waters.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said a federal grand jury returned the indictment on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. Prosecutors allege T.H. was traveling aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Horizon with Kepner and other family members on or about Nov. 6-7, 2025, when the killing occurred while the ship was en route to Miami. That setting is what pushed the case into the federal system instead of state court.

The Justice Department said the case was first charged in juvenile court before a judge ordered it transferred to adult court. That move changes everything about the stakes. T.H. now faces prosecution as an adult in federal court, where a conviction on the murder charge could bring a life sentence. Federal officials also stressed that he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Kepner, 18, was found dead on Nov. 7, 2025. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner later ruled her death a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation. A death certificate listed Nov. 6, 2025, as the date of injury, with the time unknown. Additional reporting said her body was discovered concealed beneath a bed in the cabin she shared with her 16-year-old stepbrother, and one account said she was wrapped in a blanket and covered with life jackets.

Kepner’s obituary identified her as Anna Marie Kepner, born June 13, 2007. It said a celebration of life was scheduled for Nov. 20, 2025, at The Grove Church in Titusville. Local reporting described her as a Titusville high school senior and cheerleader, and some accounts identified Temple Christian School as her school.

The case has drawn outsized attention because it sits at the intersection of a brutal family killing and a legal lane that many readers rarely see up close: crimes on a ship outside U.S. territory can still be prosecuted federally when the vessel is in international waters. With the indictment now unsealed, the case has moved from sealed filings and juvenile proceedings into the full force of the federal criminal system.