Overview
- Newly released Brevard County custody records include messages discussing keeping details quiet, limiting social media exposure, and preventing the teen’s name from being public.
- In a Nov. 9 text, stepmother Shauntel Hudson-Kepner said the 16-year-old repeatedly claimed he could not remember what happened during a brief call from a medical facility.
- Court testimony on Dec. 5 stated the teen was evaluated at a hospital after the ship docked and then moved to live with a relative to remove any potential risk to other children.
- Records and prior reporting say Anna Kepner was found under a bed in a cabin she shared and that her death was ruled a homicide caused by mechanical asphyxia.
- The FBI’s Miami office continues the maritime investigation, no charges have been announced, and the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner has not publicly released full autopsy or toxicology results.