Boy, 16, charged with sexually assaulting and murdering his stepsister whose physique was discovered hidden in cabin on cruise ship | EUROtoday

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with sexually assaulting and murdering his 18-year-old stepsister, Anna Kepner, whose physique was discovered hidden on a Carnival Cruise ship, authorities stated Monday.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the teenager, recognized by the federal government as T.H., was initially charged as a juvenile on February 2, however the case was sealed till U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ordered that he can be prosecuted as an grownup, the division stated.

On November 7, a maid discovered Anna wrapped in a blanket and coated in life jackets beneath a mattress in a room she shared with two different teenagers, together with the youthful stepbrother.

The reason for dying was decided to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or bodily pressure stops somebody from respiration.

Prior to the fees and arrest, there have been a number of indications that Anna’s stepbrother was a spotlight of the investigation into the dying aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise, which was sure for the Caribbean on the time of the Florida teen’s dying.

Chris Kepner, the suspect’s stepfather, has beforehand steered his daughter’s stepbrother could possibly be accountable.

”I would like him to face the results … I shall be preventing to be sure that does occur,” he instructed People final 12 months. “I cannot say that he is responsible but I can’t decline,” he added. “He was the only one that was in the room and the FBI has an ongoing investigation in which they will have to provide the evidence to say that he did do it or did not do this.”

Shauntel Kepner, the teenager’s mom, instructed her ex-husband that the boy had no reminiscence of occasions surrounding Kepner’s dying, in line with textual content messages submitted to the courtroom as a part of the dispute.

She testified in December that the teenagers had been good buddies and needed to room collectively, together with Kepner’s organic brother, somewhat than keep in a room with their grandparents.

“They wanted to stay together,” she beforehand instructed News6. “The three of them, like the Three Amigos, are best friends.”

Kepner, of Titusville, Florida, was set to graduate from highschool this 12 months and dreamed of being a cheerleader for the University of Georgia. She had thought-about becoming a member of the navy or serving as a K9 police officer after faculty.