Overview
- At a Dec. 5 Brevard County hearing, the judge referred to the 16-year-old stepbrother as a suspect in the death of Anna Kepner, 18, aboard the Carnival Horizon.
- The FBI’s Miami office is leading the maritime probe and, according to attorneys, is determining whether any case proceeds federally or is referred to Florida prosecutors.
- Shauntel Hudson’s attorney said the teen is living with a relative at an undisclosed location and that authorities are awaiting toxicology and psychological testing results.
- The judge denied an emergency request to remove a younger child from Hudson’s custody, finding no imminent risk, and set a contempt hearing for Dec. 17.
- Court records and a family-provided death certificate say Kepner was found under a bed and her death was ruled a homicide by mechanical asphyxia, with full autopsy and toxicology reports still pending.