True Crime Society – The cruise ship death of Anna Kepner

Anna Kepner (18) was found dead on a Carnival cruise ship – the Carnival Horizon – on November 8, 2025. The ship had been cruising in the Caribbean and Anna had been on vacation with her father, stepmother and three stepsiblings. It has recently emerged that one of her stepsiblings is a suspect in her death.

As some background into Anna, she was born on June 13, 2007. Her family gave her the nickname Anna Banana.

Anna’s parents are Christopher Kepner and Heather Wright. Christopher had married a woman named Shauntel Kepner – she was the stepmother on the cruise at the time that Anna died.

Anna’s obituary lists her siblings as Andrew, Tim, Alex, Connor, Cody, Kylie, and Brooke.

At one point prior to marrying Shauntel, Christopher married a woman named Tabitha. They split in 2023.

Anna’s family have said that she was pure energy, bubbly, funny and outgoing. She never had a filter and they found that charming.

Anna was living in Titusville, Florida and she attended Titusville High School for a period of time. While at that school, she was a member of the Varsity Cheer Team. She also attended Astronaut High School and finally went onto Temple Christian School, where she was due to graduate next year.

Anna has an extensive obituary which we will link on the blog but this is an excerpt from it:

She loved her siblings deeply and made sure they always felt it whether it be taking them to the park, Halloween Horror Nights, or just out for fun, because that’s who she was: thoughtful, nurturing, and always thinking of others. She had a big, beautiful heart, often sending random “I love you” messages or little gestures that made someone’s day. Anna loved kids, dolphins, butterflies, arts and crafts, and doing puzzles with her Memaw. She had the best “blonde moments,” the kind that made everyone laugh. And her famous “I gotta poop” joke will be one her family never forgets. Whoever’s house was closest got the surprise visit!

Shauntel (stepmother) had previously been married to a Thomas Hudson. The two were in the process of divorce and custody proceedings as of November 2025. This will become important as the case goes on.

The cruise that the family were on was a 6 day Caribbean cruise.

Some info about the ship:

The Carnival Horizon is a 133,500 gross-ton cruise ship built in 2018, measuring 1,055 feet long with a beam of 122 feet. It has a capacity for approximately 3,960 to 4,977 passengers and a crew of 1,450.

The ship was due to return back to Miami on November 8. Ports visited include Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

Anna had been sharing a cabin with her 14 year old brother and 16 year old stepbrother. The two boys had bunk beds and Anna had her own bed.

On the evening of November 6, Anna said that she felt unwell and went back to her cabin. According to the Daily Mail, the two boys also went back to the room. The 14 y/o changed his clothes and went back out onto the ship. He has said when he got back, he noticed that Anna was not in bed but he assumed she was out with the adults and he went to sleep.

When she didn’t show up for breakfast the next day, her family members began searching for her.

A housekeeper eventually found Anna’s body wrapped in a blanket, covered with life jackets and stuffed under a bed in her stateroom. The ship was sailing between Mexico and Florida at the time, and Anna was declared dead in international waters.

Anna’s time of death was listed as 11.17am on November 7.

When the ship docked, the FBI boarded and began their investigation.

Christopher would speak to the media about how little he apparently knew regarding Anna’s death.

‘We were there as a family. Everybody was questioned. Everybody came off that ship. I don’t know who they are looking at or what their investigation is,’ he said.

‘The FBI hasn’t shared anything with me yet. I would imagine they’re going to be in contact with me about it – but I know as little as everybody else.

‘I have no idea what is going on right now. We are just trying to sit still and wait for answers.’

Carnival said in a statement: ‘Our focus is on supporting the family of our guest and cooperating with the FBI.’

A spokesman for the FBI added: ‘No further information is being released at this time.’

On November 17, Shauntel filed a motion asking for more time to respond to filings relating to her 2024 divorce. Her ex had previously accused her of ‘willfully violating’ court orders and ‘denying his parenting time’ in a motion for contempt filed in Brevard County. Her reason was cited as an “extremely sensitive and severe circumstance.”

“’Currently there is an investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.) arising out of the sudden death of eighteen-year-old Anna Kepner,” the filing reads, adding that Hudson had been advised “that a criminal case may be initiated against one” of her minor children.

“Any testimony the Respondent may give, either written or oral, could be prejudicial to her or her adolescent child in this pending criminal investigation, therefore the Respondent cannot be compelled to testify,” the filing continued.

According to NBC News, another filing on Tuesday, November 18 identifies her teenage son as a suspect.

This info is from NBC:

Another court filing relating to Hudson’s past marriage, filed Tuesday, identifies her teenage son with the initials T.H. as a suspect in Kepner’s death. In the meantime, he is living with a relative to protect the safety of his younger sister and of Kepner’s other sibling, according to the document.

‘The respondent took the remaining minor children on a cruise with a stepchild of her paramour,’ his filing says.

‘The sixteen-year-old child is now a suspect in the death of the stepchild during the cruise. While released from custody, the sixteen-year-old child is residing with a third party.’

The filing adds: ‘The sixteen-year-old’s future has been put in jeopardy because of the choices made by the respondent… the youngest child is at immediate risk of abuse, abandonment, or neglect in the care of the respondent.’

The filing also stated that Thomas Hudson was getting his son a lawyer.

Anna’s biological mother has made some claims on social media about being kept in the dark about her daughter’s death.

“My beautiful baby girl was found dead Friday and I just found out last night,” Heather Wright wrote on TikTok on Tuesday, November 11, adding that “her dad and stepmom didn’t even try to contact me, so I’m gonna give that to God and let him sort it out along with who ever did this to my baby girl.”

Heather lives in Oklahoma.

“ANNA MARIE I MISS YOU SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW SHATTERED I AM OVER THIS… PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR NOT BEING THERE I’M SO SORRY,” Wright, who goes by justmom1984, continued.

Heather has continually spoken to the media. “My ex-husband did not try to contact me at all whatsoever to let me know that my daughter died,” she told NewsNation.

She said she first heard that Anna might be dead from a friend — who told her young son that his “sister was murdered on a cruise ship.”

Heather has said that she kept trying to contact Anna via her cell and social media but got nowhere. So she went to google.

“Then I Googled ’18-year-old died on cruise ship,’ and that’s when my daughter’s face popped up all over Google,” Heather said.

Heather has also spoken about how her ex banned her from attending Anna’s memorial.

“He said he knew for a fact Anna would not want me there and I said, ‘That’s a lie, but whatever,’” she said.

“He said if I step foot in Florida, ‘I will have you arrested immediately for back child support,” she continued, adding she snuck into the service regardless.

“I wore a wig and I wore some really tall high heels so that way if he was looking for somebody short, he wouldn’t see me. Nobody spotted me, I kinda stayed in the back close to the door so if I needed to make a quick getaway, I could.”

Krystal Wright – presumably Heather’s sister – made this post on social media.

An alleged uncle of Anna’s has made this post on social media.

Investigators are now reviewing surveillance video from the ship and analyzing electronic swipe card data that may show who entered Anna’s cabin. They are also examining Anna’s cellphone records. The FBI and ship security are also conducting interviews with other passengers, crewmembers and Anna’s family.

On November 21, 2025, Anna’s cause of death was revealed.

Anna died by asphyxiation resulting from a bar hold — an arm across the neck — a source briefed on the investigation told the media.

Investigators also found two bruises on the side of her neck, the source said

According to the source, the preliminary information indicates there were no signs of sexual assault and there did not appear to be drugs or alcohol in Anna’s system. Autopsy and toxicology reports that could confirm those details have not been completed.

Anna’s boyfriend, a male named Joshua Tew has come out and said that Anna had been fighting with her brother previously on the ship.

Anna and the unnamed brother were allegedly inside the locked cabin … and according to Joshua, Connor could hear him “yelling at her in a harmful way.” Joshua was told the stepsibling even yelled at her to “shut the hell up.” There was also some “banging around” heard in the room … including what the brother believes were chairs being thrown.

Joshua told Inside Edition Anna was scared of her stepbrother and often slept at friends’ homes because “she didn’t feel safe around him.” He also alleged he was sexually harassing her … but Anna was too scared to tell anyone.

It’s been reported the stepsibling had a strange infatuation with Anna. Joshua’s father, Steven Westin, even alleged he once tried climbing on top of her in bed.