Anna Kepner Timeline: Final Days of Florida Teen Before Cruise Ship Murder

Anna Kepner died while traveling aboard the Carnival Horizon on a trip with her grandparents, father, siblings and step-family.

Anna Kepner.Credit : Anna Kepner/Instagram

“Anna was pure energy: bubbly, funny, outgoing, and completely herself. “

That is how Anna Kepner is remembered in her obituary.

The 18-year-old high school student lost her life while traveling with her family on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship in early November.

Her death was later declared a homicide. While there have been no arrests made at this time, court papers filed in the custody proceedings between Anna's stepmother Shauntel Hudson and her ex-husband suggest that Anna's 16-year-old stepbrother is under criminal investigation,

When asked about his estranged stepson's possible involvement in his daughter's murder, Christopher Kepner previously told PEOPLE: “I cannot say that he is responsible but I can’t decline. He was the only one that was in the room and the FBI has an ongoing investigation in which they will have to provide the evidence to say that he did do it or did not do this.”

Here is a look at the timeline of events leading up to Anna's Death.

 

Nov. 2, 2025

Carnival Horizon.Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group/ Getty

The Carnival Horizon departs Miami on a six-night Western Caribbean cruise. Among the guests on board are Barbara and Jeffrey Kepner, their son Christopher Kepner and his new wife Shauntel Hudson, their granddaughter Anna and her two younger siblings and two of Shauntel's children.

 

Nov. 4 – 5, 2025

Anna Kepner.Anna Kepner/Instagram

The Carnival Horizon makes stops in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

 

Nov. 6, 2025

Barbara and Jeffrey Kepner.Good Morning America/Youtube

The Carnival Horizon departs Cozumel, Mexico, and begins the two-day trip back to Miami. The family has dinner together but Anna says her braces are bothering her and leaves the family early to return to her room, Barbara told ABC News. Later that night, a “dressed up” Anna visits her grandmother at the casino. “And she said, ‘Meemaw, I love you guys, I'll see you later,’ ” Barbara recalls. It is the last time she would see her granddaughter alive. A copy of the death certificate provided to the family and seen by ABC News says that Anna suffers her “cause of injury” at some point after last seeing her grandparents. The certificate says Anna “was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s).”

 

Nov. 7, 2025

Anna Kepner.Anna Kepner/Instagram

A copy of the death certificate obtained by PEOPLE lists Anna's time of death as 11:17 a.m. She is reportedly discovered dead underneath a mattress by a housekeeper on the ship. Her grandfather tells ABC News he learns something is wrong when an announcement goes out instructing staff to report to the room Anna is sharing with her stepbrother.

 

Nov. 8, 2025

Anna Kepner.Anna Kepner/Instagram

The ship docks in MIami, where FBI agents are waiting to board the ship and begin their investigation. No one is detained or held in custody, but Anna's stepbrother is checked into a mental health facility, according to court filings submitted in his parents' custody battle,

 

Nov. 10, 2025

Anna Kepner.Anna Kepner/Instagram

News of Anna's death is shared on the Facebook page of Temple Christian School, where she was in her senior year. Students begin to cover her car in the school parking lot with flowers.

 

Nov. 17, 2025

Anna Kepner.Anna Kepner/Instagram

Shauntel files a motion seeking to postpone a court hearing in her ongoing custody battle with her ex-husband which states: “She has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action.”

 

Nov. 20, 2025

Anna Kepner memorial.WKMG News 6 ClickOrlando/YouTube

Friends and family gather at Grove Church for a memorial celebrating Anna's life. Her mother Heather Wright announces plans to attend in a disguise, claiming she was not invited to the gathering.

In the dimly lit corridors of Deck 10 on the Carnival Horizon, where the hum of ocean waves should have lulled passengers to sleep, a scene of raw terror unfolded on November 6, 2025. Police reenactments, pieced together from FBI interviews, security footage, and forensic analysis, depict 18-year-old Anna Kepner—barefoot, her cheerleader's poise shattered—bolting into the hallway, eyes wide with unbridled panic. The cabin behind her loomed dark and empty, a void swallowing her cries, while inside, her 16-year-old stepbrother stood motionless, a sentinel observing her every frantic step. Psychologists label this chilling tableau as the hallmark of “absolute domination in a small space,” where control isn't just physical but psychological—a predator's gaze turning a confined stateroom into a trap. As the investigation into Anna's homicide deepens, this hallway moment emerges as the pivotal fracture, a fleeting bid for freedom that illuminated the obsession festering within her blended family.

Anna Marie Kepner, the straight-A Titusville High School senior whose TikTok dances and unfiltered laughs earned her the nickname “Anna Banana,” embodied optimism. Her obituary paints her as a “sunshine” soul, destined for college and cheerleading stardom. Yet, on this six-day Caribbean cruise—meant to knit her father's recent remarriage into a tapestry of unity—the threads unraveled violently. Departing Miami on November 2, the voyage included eight relatives: Anna's dad Christopher Kepner, stepmother Shauntel Hudson, her 14-year-old biological brother, and Hudson's three children, including the 16-year-old stepbrother, redacted as “T.H.” in filings. The sleeping setup? A powder keg: the three teens crammed into Cabin 10412, adults bunked apart.

The evening of November 6 began innocently enough. After a day in Cozumel—snorkeling, beachside tacos, and family photos—Anna's braces throbbed from the salty snacks, her stomach churning from seasickness or perhaps unease. Around 8 p.m., post-dinner, she texted friends: “Not feeling great, heading back.” Surveillance captured her swiping into the cabin alone, the door clicking shut like a final punctuation. What transpired next, per FBI reconstructions, escalated from tension to terror.

Investigative sources describe the prelude: T.H.'s fixation had intensified over months. Anna's ex-boyfriend Joshua Tew, 15, recounted a nightmare FaceTime nine months earlier—Anna asleep, T.H. slipping in at 3 a.m., mounting her in a haze of unwanted intimacy. “He's infatuated… always wanted to date her,” Tew told Inside Edition, voice breaking at her memorial. He warned Christopher and Shauntel, but they dismissed it as “teen stuff.” On the cruise, the proximity amplified it: T.H. shadowing Anna at ports, his jealousy flaring at her laughs with crew, his “playful” wrestles leaving her flinching.

Inside the cabin, darkness enveloped the bunks. Anna's 14-year-old brother, in the upper bed, dozed fitfully. Sources say an argument ignited—perhaps over T.H.'s possessiveness, or Anna rebuffing his advances. Voices rose; furniture scraped. Then, the hallway breach: Anna, shoeless in her cruise-nightie, flung the door open, stumbling into the corridor light. Her eyes, per reenactment actors mimicking witness sketches, darted wildly—seeking a steward, a passenger, salvation. Bare feet slapped cold linoleum; she gasped, hand clutching the frame, as if debating a scream that might summon shame or safety.

But the door didn't latch. From the shadows, T.H. emerged—not chasing, but watching. Stoic, unyielding, his silhouette framed in the threshold, per footage timestamps. No pursuit; just observation. “It's the freeze before the pull-back,” explains Dr. Marcus Hale, a clinical psychologist at Florida State University specializing in familial abuse dynamics. Reviewing leaked reenactment briefs, Hale notes: “In small spaces like a 150-square-foot cabin off a narrow hall, this is absolute domination. The victim tests boundaries, but the abuser's stillness enforces control—'You can't leave without my permission.' It's psychological warfare, eroding escape instincts.” Such tactics, per the APA, thrive in blended families, where 30% report boundary erosions leading to escalated violence.

Anna hesitated—seconds, an eternity—then retreated. The door sealed; chaos resumed. Her brother stirred to “banging” and “yelling—'shut up!'” but sleep reclaimed him. By morning, near Cuba's waters, a steward found her: asphyxiated, neck bruised in a “bar hold” strangulation, body crammed under the lower bunk, shrouded in a blanket and life vests. The Miami-Dade Examiner ruled homicide: mechanical asphyxia by another. No toxins, no assault traces—just intimate fury.

The hallway footage, FBI's linchpin, shows T.H. as the lone entrant/exiter post-8 p.m. He claimed amnesia: “I don't remember,” an “emotional mess” per grandmother Barbara Kepner. Post-docking, he was psych-evaluated, released to kin. Shauntel's custody filings with ex Thomas Hudson confirm: “Open investigation… T.H. a suspect.” She invoked the Fifth, fearing incrimination; Thomas alleged booze-fueled neglect.

Family fractures compound the horror. Biological mom Heather Wright, cruise-excluded, attended the funeral incognito, blasting: “Why room them together?” Uncle Martin Donohue's X post—”Dad stayed silent”—exploded with 200,000 views, decrying complicity. X erupts in analyses: @901Lulu dubs T.H. a “creep obsessed,” citing the FaceTime creep; @Nerdy_Addict shares Tew's interview, questioning ignored flags. Retired agent @CoffindafferFBI: “Domination starts subtle—watching from the door ends in tragedy.” Reddit's r/Cruise threads speculate: “That hallway pause? She knew he owned the room.”

Christopher, torn, told People: “If consequences fit, face them.” Barbara clings to “demons” in T.H., but Jeffrey admits the blend blinded them. No charges yet—juvenile protections shield—but sources whisper imminent filings. Carnival cooperates silently, footage sealed.

Dr. Hale warns: “Hallway escapes are rare bids in domination cycles—90% recoil without intervention.” Blended homes, per NDVH, see obsession spike 25%; signs like “watching” demand action. Anna's? A red flag fleet.

Her Grove Church memorial overflowed in neons, toasts to her spark. As holidays loom, Christopher posts: “Haunted, but healing.” X echoes: “Her panic in that hall? Our wake-up.”

This chaos unmasks confinement's cruelty: a girl's dash into light, snuffed by shadows. Heed the gaze; shatter the silence. Hotline: 1-800-799-7233.