The 16-year-old stepbrother of Anna Kepner will be charged as an adult in the death of the 18-year-old found aboard a Carnival cruise ship last November, federal prosecutors in South Florida said Monday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida said T.H., identified in court documents, faces first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse charges in a case that began as a juvenile matter on Feb. 2. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Kepner was found dead on Nov. 7, 2025, aboard Carnival's Horizon during a family vacation with her father, stepmother, grandparents and several siblings. The announcement that the case is moving from juvenile handling to adult prosecution gives new force to a case that has shadowed the Kepner family for six months.
Her father, Christopher Kepner, said he wants the teen in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, and said he does not believe his stepson should be free around the public, including children and women. He said T.H. is a danger and added that he has not apologized or shown remorse.
“We’re upset that he’s still out. We’re six months in, and he should already have been arrested, and yet he’s free to do whatever he wants right now,” Christopher Kepner said. He added, “I want to see him in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. He does not need to be free. He does not need to be in the general public, around any kids or women in general.”
“He’s a danger to himself and a danger to others,” he said. “He's still saying that he can't remember and that's about it. He hasn't apologized. He hasn't shown any remorse for anything.”
The case had been handled as a juvenile matter after the February charging date, a path that often keeps proceedings more limited and less public than adult prosecution. Monday’s announcement changes that trajectory and puts the possibility of a life sentence on the table if prosecutors secure a conviction.
Christopher Kepner attended a memorial service for Anna on Nov. 20, 2025, at the Grove Church in Titusville, Florida, as the family continued to grieve while waiting for a clearer legal reckoning. Digital said it had reached out to T.H.'s attorneys for comment.
For the Kepners, the question now is no longer whether federal prosecutors will treat the case as a child’s matter. It will move forward as an adult murder case, with the stakes as high as the law allows.
