The grandparents of 18-year-old Anna Kepner have spoken publicly after her death aboard a Carnival cruise ship was officially ruled a homicide.
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According to a death certificate issued on Monday and shared with ABC News by her family, Anna died from “mechanical asphyxia” and was “mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s)”. The date of injury is listed as the 6th November.
Anna, a Florida high school senior who planned to join the Navy, was on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship with her extended family when she was found dead. A security source told ABC News she was found wrapped in a blanket and covered with life vests, concealed under a bed in one of the staterooms.
‘I couldn’t fathom why anyone would wanna hurt my baby’
Her grandparents, Barbara and Jeffrey Kepner, told ABC News the family had been having a “great time” on what was meant to be a new holiday tradition: “We were looking forward to seeing her grow. The cruise wasn’t what made me excited, it was getting another week with the family.”
The Kepners described the blended family as extremely close. “There’s no such thing as steps,” Jeffrey said. “Our dynamic is we’re all just family.”
Anna had embraced her step-siblings fully, her grandmother said: “I loved them just like the rest of my grandchildren. They all called us Memaw and Peepaw.”
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Court documents indicate Anna’s stepbrother could face charges
A court filing obtained by The Tab in an unrelated family matter notes that Anna’s stepbrother, a minor, could face charges.
The grandparents said authorities told the family that security cameras showed the stepbrother was “the only one seen going in and the only one seen going out” of the room the teens were sharing.
Despite this, Barbara said she is struggling to believe what she’s been told, knowing the close relationship she saw between the two teens.
“They were just like brother and sister… two peas in a pod,” she said. “I can’t accuse him because I don’t know what happened in that room.”
She said the stepbrother told her he couldn’t remember what happened. “I believe, to him, that is his truth,” she added. He was questioned by law enforcement along with the rest of the family and later hospitalized for psychiatric observation after the ship docked.
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The moment the family realised something was wrong
On the night before her death, Anna had left dinner early because her braces were bothering her. The next morning, a medical alert rang out over the ship’s loudspeakers. Jeffrey recognised the room number immediately.
“I went blank,” he said. “I was hoping it was something minor.”
But what he saw when he arrived at the room “still haunts” him. Anna’s father reached her first. “All he had to do was look at her and he knew she was gone,” Barbara said.
A room attendant had discovered Anna hidden under the bed, and her grandparents say there were visible bruises on the side of her neck. Barbara said the shock left her screaming uncontrollably. “The last I can remember for probably hours that morning is I just screamed. I couldn’t stop.”
‘What did we miss?’
The family say they are now left trying to understand how Anna could have died without anyone realising something was wrong.
“With my grandchildren, I have one rule,” Barbara said. “Be truthful with me, I’ll be truthful with you, and we’ll figure it out.”
“I now know how she died,” she added. “It helps a little bit, but it’s not going to bring Anna back.”
As the investigation continues, the Kepners say all they want now is clarity, and justice.
“That will be for the courts to decide,” Barbara said.
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Featured image credit: TikTok/@fl.anna18, Canva
