Stepbrother, 16, Charged with Sexually Abusing and Murdering Anna Kepner, 18, Is Not In Custody, Still with Family
Prosecutors are seeking to modify the pre-trial release conditions for the stepbrother of Anna Kepner imposed when they sought to bring him to try him as a minor
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Anna Kepner.Credit : Anna Kepner/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother is still staying with family as he stands accused of murder the high schooler aboard a cruise ship
Prosecutors are have now indicted T.H. on adult charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse
The U.S. Attorney’s office now wants to revoke the teen’s release and hold him in pretrial detention
Prosecutors announced on April 10 that T.H., the 16-year-old stepbrother of Anna Kepner, had been indicted on charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse by a federal grand jury and would be tried as an adult.
Five days later, T.H. is still not in custody and continues to spend his days at the home of his uncle or accompanying his father to work, according to documents filed in federal court in Miami.
Now, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida are asking the court to revoke T.H.’s previous order of release and set new conditions, according to a motion for review obtained by PEOPLE.
“[T]he defendant is a danger to others and should be held in pretrial detention, ” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Lopez writes in the motion.
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The parents of T.H. in family court: Shauntel Kepner (left) and Thomas Hudson (right).Court TV
Anna died aboard the Carnival Cruise Line’s Horizon as it traveled through international waters. She was on a cruise with her family and returned to the stateroom she was sharing with two of her half-brothers, including T.H., on the night of Nov. 6, federal filings reveal.
A little before noon the following day, she was found dead under her bed. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office determined Anna’s cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation and her manner of death to be homicide.
T.H. surrendered himself at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida on Feb. 3, at which time he was arrested on accusation of killing his 18-year-old stepsister on Nov. 6, 2025.
T.H. was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse.
He then returned to federal court for a pretrial release hearing on Feb. 6.
Prosecutors recommended pretrial detention, but had little say in the matter: the federal Juvenile Delinquency Act says minors may only be held pretrial when it’s “necessary to ensure appearance or safety.” The act also does not require bail to be posted in most cases.
As a result, T.H. was released into the custody of his uncle without any provisions.
But now that T.H. is being tried as an adult, he is offered no protection under the JDA — so prosecutors want the judge to reconsider the conditions of his pretrial release.
In arguing again for detention, prosecutors state in their filing that the “evidence demonstrated the offense conduct [T.H.] engaged in involved the most serious, egregious, and violative crimes one person can inflict upon another.”
The filing then states that “[T.H] committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling” while also committing the crime “without any warning he could commit such atrocious acts.”
T.H. “currently lives in a. house where minor children reside” prosecutors point out before arguing that “there is no assurance any court could ever have that any conditions, or combination of conditions, would be sufficient to prevent [T.H] from being a danger to others.”
Should the judge reject the prosecution’s request for detention or decline to hear arguments on the initial release order filed in February, prosecutors ask that the judge “decide a bond with conditions” that “better address the concerns and circumstances involved in releasing [T.H].”
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Anna Kepner in 2023.
The mother of T.H., Shauntel Kepner and her husband, Anna’s father Christopher Kepner, have both been very vocal about wanting to see the 16-year-old in custody.
The pair released a statement after T.H. made his first court appearance, saying: “At this time, it is deeply painful and disturbing to our family that the person responsible is able to walk freely. This reality adds to our grief and outrage.”
It continued: “It is devastating to know that while we live every day with the loss of our child, the individual responsible has not yet been fully held accountable.”
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