Authorities may press criminal charges against a youngster whose stepsister, Anna Kepner, was discovered dead on a cruise ship on November 8.
According to officials, the 18-year-old’s body was discovered under a bed on the Carnival Horizon.
The FBI is investigating the incident since it occurred in foreign seas. There have been no criminal charges brought in the case as of Wednesday, November 19.
According to court records in an unrelated case, one of Kepner’s stepmother’s three children, or stepsiblings, may face criminal charges.
The lawyer for Shauntel Hudson, Kepner’s stepmother, filed the statement in an emergency divorce court filing on Monday, Nov. 17, detailing why Hudson may be unable to testify at a hearing for the proceedings, according to the outlets.
“An extremely sensitive and severe circumstance has arisen, wherein the Respondent/Mother will not be able to testify at the hearing at this time,” reads part of the filing, according to CBS News.
“[Hudson] 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,” according to Florida Today.
Hudson stated in her filing that she is unable to testify at the future hearing due to Kepner’s death and has invoked her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, according to FOX 35.
There were no other details provided about the anticipated charges or whether they were related to Kepner’s death.
Kepner was on the cruise with her father, Hudson, and three stepsiblings, according to CBS News. According to the outlet, the night before her disappearance, she informed her family that she was not feeling well before retiring to her room.
She is noted for “lighting up” whatever room she entered.
“If you were upset, she could make you laugh. “She would joke around and be the funniest little person in school,” her family members previously told CBS News.
FOX 35 reported that the reason and manner of Kepner’s death had not to be determined.
The divorce of Kepner’s father and Hudson was finalized in 2023, and the child parenting plan was designed by the court, according to Florida Today.
