Anna Kepner’s stepbrother ‘screamed at her & threw chairs in violent row the night before she died on Carnival cruise’
Anna Kepner's ex-boyfriend made shocking allegations about an incident involving the cheerleader and her stepbrother
THE stepbrother of Anna Kepner allegedly went into a violent fit the night before her death, throwing chairs and screaming at the cheerleader inside their shared cabin on the Carnival Cruise Line ship.
The shocking claims were made by Kepner‘s ex-boyfriend, Joshua Tew, who alleged the 18-year-old teen was “uncomfortable” being at home because of her stepbrother, 16.
Joshua alleged his ex-girlfriend, whom he split from six months before her death, would often sleep over at her friends house because “she was uncomfortable” with his step relatives.
“She told me that she was uncomfortable with them being at the house because she didn’t fully know who they were,” Joshua told reporters after Kepner’s memorial on Thursday evening.
Kepner and her family were at the tail end of their six-day cruise when a housekeeper found the young cheerleader’s body wrapped in a blanket, covered in life vests, and stuffed under a bed on the morning of November 7.
Joshua claimed that the youngest sibling on the cruise, who was staying in the same cabin as Kepner and her step-brother, allegedly heard a violent altercation between the older teens on the night of November 6.
The young sibling allegedly told Joshua that he was locked out of the room and heard “yelling and chairs being thrown in the cabin.”
“[He] heard him yelling at her in a harmful way, like, ‘Shut the hell up,'” Joshua alleged.
“And that’s when he knew something was going on. There was something going on.
“Something was banging around, like chairs were getting thrown around in the room.”
Joshua claimed the younger sibling stopped talking to him after the FBI intervened and warned the family about speaking out about the investigation.
The ex-boyfriend said he passed along the information he gathered from the young child to federal investigators.
STEPBROTHER UNDER INVESTIGATION
The 16-year-old stepbrother was named a suspect in the death of Kepner in unrelated custody filings filed by his parents.
The FBI has not named the 16-year-old as a suspect.
In a hearing on Thursday, an attorney for Thomas Hudson, the teen’s father, claimed his client’s son was allowed to drink on the cruise because it was on international waters.
“The teenagers were given their own room in which to stay,” Scott Smith, Hudson’s attorney, told the court.
“Just a lot of circumstances that showed that the mother in this case was not exercising appropriate supervision over this child or the other child involved.”
Hudson blamed his ex-wife’s decision-making for putting their two children’s future in jeopardy and asked the court for more parental time, according to an emergency motion filed on Monday.
The estranged ex-couple share three children together, an adult child, the 16-year-old boy, and another 9-year-old.
However, Millicent Athanason, the attorney for Hudson’s ex-wife, Shauntel – who is also Kepner’s stepmom – dismissed the concerned father’s claims, telling the court that video evidence showed the 16-year-old was not drinking.
“The issue that counsel raised about drinking, there are videotapes on the ship that confirmed that there was absolutely no drinking,” Athanason said.
Shauntel’s attorney revealed to the court that her client’s 16-year-old was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason “immediately after the incident.”
The teenager has since been released and is living with one of his mom’s relatives, the attorney added.
Shauntel indicated to the court that her 16-year-old son has a “psychiatrist appointment” in early December.
But as the mother was going to discuss the appointment further, the judge cautioned her not to speak without first seeking advice from her attorney.
The estranged parents are due back in court on December 5 to address child custody arrangements.
Who was Anna Kepner?
Anna Kepner, 18, was a senior at Temple Christian School. A cheerleader, Kepner was part of the graduating Class of 2026.
She has two full-siblings, a brother, 14, and a sister, 9.
Her father Christopher married her stepmother, Shauntel, mother of two, in 2024.
The blended family relocated to Titusville, Florida, about 40 miles east of Orlando.
Kepner loved kids, dolphins, butterflies, arts and crafts, and doing puzzles with her Memaw.
She earned her boater’s license before she could drive, and she was PADI certified to dive alongside her family.
Kepner loved all kinds of music (except heavy metal) and had a soft spot for Shawn Mendes.
She planned to join the U.S. Navy after graduation and later become a K9 police officer.
A Georgia Bulldogs fan through and through, just like her family. Anna dreamed of one day becoming a cheerleader for the Bulldogs.
Source: North Brevard Funeral Home
‘OBSESSION’
Meanwhile, Joshua, Kepner’s ex-boyfriend, made more disturbing allegations, claiming his ex-girlfriend’s stepbrother was “obsessed” with her.
Joshua told reporters about a creepy incident where he allegedly witnessed Kepner’s stepbrother climb on top of her as she laid in bed.
The ex-boyfriend claimed the incident occurred nine months ago while he and Kepner were on a late-night FaceTime call.
“Anna was laying down and he walked in there and tried to get on top of her, but he got caught by me in the process of it,” Joshua alleged.
“I was like, ‘What the hell are you doing in her room?’ Then he got scared and ran away.
“And I heard his footsteps running through the house because he got caught.”
Steven Westin, Joshua’s father, claimed that his son told him that Kepner’s stepbrother was “obsessed with her” and “relentlessly pursued her” despite their newly blended family.
Westin told Inside Edition that Kepner was “scared” of her stepbrother because “he always carried around a big knife.”
He also reiterated his son’s claims that he allegedly caught Kepner’s stepbrother “climb on top of her.”
“He’s like infatuated, attracted to her like crazy,” Westin alleged.
“He always wanted to date her.”
Westin went on to claim his son tried warning Kepner’s parents but “they didn’t want to believe” him.
Timeline of Anna Kepner's death
Anna Kepner was a high school senior and cheerleader when she found dead on board a Carnival Cruise ship on November 7.
Timeline:
- Nov. 2: Carnival Cruise Line’s Horizon disembarks the Port of Miami to begin its six-day journey through the the Carribean, with stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico, before sailing back to Florida.
- Nov. 6: Anna Kepner’s family said the 18-year-old teen was with them during the evening, but returned to her room early after telling them she was not feeling well.
- Nov. 7: Kepner’s relatives grew concerned after the teenager failed to show up when the family gathered for breakfast that morning.
- Nov. 7, 11:17 am: A housekeeper reportedly located Kepner’s body under a bed in her cabin as the family searched the enormous vessel.
- Nov. 8: The Carnival Cruise’s Horizon returned to the Port of Miami after Kepner’s body was discovered. The ship was enroute to Mexico but rerouted to Miami.
- Officials with the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office board the vessel after it docked in Miami and removed Kepner’s body.
- The FBI takes over the investigation as Kepner died on international waters.
- Nov. 9: Kepner’s family breaks silence in a statement to ABC News, mourning the teen as someone who would light up any room she walked into.
- Nov. 17: Kepner’s stepmom filed an emergency motion in an unrelated custody hearing with her ex-husband indicating the FBI is considering a “criminal case” against a young relative.
- The ex-husband of Kepner’s stepmom filed a separate emergency motion revealing that a 16-year-old stepsibling is considered “a suspect” in the “death of the step child during the cruise.”
- The 16-year-old “suspect” was briefly placed into custody before being released.
- The young relative is currently staying with a third party at an unknown location.