Anna Kepner's Stepsibling May Face Charges After 18-Year-Old Found Dead Under Bed on Carnival Cruise By Samira Asma-Sadeque 56

Authorities may file criminal charges against a minor whose stepsister, Anna Kepner, was found dead aboard a cruise ship on Nov. 8.

The 18-year-old’s body was found under a bed on the Carnival Horizon, investigators previously told CBS News.

The matter is being investigated by the FBI as it was on international waters. No criminal charges have been filed in the case as of Wednesday, Nov. 19.

Kepner’s stepmother now says one her three children, or Kepner’s stepsiblings, may be facing criminal charges, Florida Today, FOX 35 and CBS News reported, citing court filings in an unrelated matter.

The lawyer for Shauntel Hudson, Kepner’s stepmother, made the statement in an emergency filing in divorce court on Monday, Nov. 17, where it was detailed why Hudson may not be able to testify at a hearing for the proceedings, the outlets reported.

“An extremely sensitive and severe circumstance has arisen wherein the Respondent/Mother will not be able to testify at the hearing at this time,” reads part of the filing, as reported by CBS News.

“[Hudson] has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys, that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action,” the filing states, according to Florida Today.

Hudson said in her filing that she cannot testify in the upcoming hearing because of Kepner’s death and evoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, FOX 35 reported.

No further details surrounding the anticipated charges, or whether it’s connected to Kepner’s death, were available.

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Kepner was on the cruise with her father, Hudson and her three stepsiblings, according to CBS News. The night before she went missing, she told her family she wasn’t feeling well before retiring to her room, per the outlet.

She is being remembered as someone who would “light up” any room she walked into.

“If you were sad, she’d make you laugh. She would joke around and be the funniest little person in school,” her loved ones previously told CBS News.

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The cause and manner of Kepner’s death has not been determined, FOX 35 reported.

Kepner’s father and Hudson’s divorce was finalized in 2023, and had a court-designed child parenting plan, Florida Today reported.

An investigation is ongoing.