Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother, who’s considered a suspect in her death, reportedly had a strange obsession with her.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a room steward reportedly discovered Anna’s body at around 11 a.m. while cleaning a cabin aboard the Carnival Horizon. The ship then detoured and stopped at Port Miami on November 8.
Anna Kepner died on November 7, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner. The vessel was in Cuba at the time, on the northwest coast.
Inside Edition reports that the stepbrother, according to Steve Westin, who identified himself as the father of Anna’s former boyfriend, claimed that the defendant had been infatuated with her.
Westin reportedly said he discussed the case with his son, who informed him that the stepbrother would not stop trying to woo Anna. The stepbrother was also allegedly known to carry a knife.
During a FaceTime call, Anna’s ex reportedly saw the stepbrother enter her room and get on top of her, according to what Westin told the outlet.
FOX News Digital reports that the ex said the incident happened at around 3 a.m., after Anna had fallen asleep while on the call.
“When I was on FaceTime with her, and she was lying down, and her brother tried to go on top of her,” the former boyfriend said at Anna’s memorial service this week.
The teen reportedly said that Anna felt uncomfortable around her stepbrother. Further, he said that he had planned to go on the cruise, but they had broken up beforehand.
During an emergency custody hearing initiated by the stepbrother’s father, Thomas Hudson, attorney Scott Smith disclosed that the 16-year-old had access to alcohol on the cruise.
“It’s our understanding that, because the cruise was in international waters… the 16-year-old was allowed to drink,” said Smith, according to Brevard County court filings.
“The teenagers were given their own room in which to stay. Just a lot of circumstances that showed that the mother in this case was not exercising appropriate supervision over this child or the other child involved.”
Anna’s stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, denied the claims when responding to Hudson, who is seeking emergency custody of their 9-year-old daughter.
Anna, along with her 14-year-old brother, shared a cabin with the stepbrother. Her father, stepmother, and other children were also aboard the ship when her death occurred.
The stepbrother, as CrimeOnline reported, was briefly hospitalized after the cruise for an undisclosed reason.
Brevard County Circuit Court Judge Michelle Pruitt Studstill set a 4-hour hearing on December 5 to discuss custody arrangements.
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[Feature Photo: Anna Kepner/Instagram]
