SANFORD, Fla. (Court TV) — An emergency hearing in family court revealed shocking new details as the investigation continues into a teenager’s death on a cruise ship.
Shauntel Kepner and Thomas Hudson appeared at a virtual hearing on Nov. 20, 2025. (Court TV)
Anna Kepner, 18, was found dead on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship earlier this month while vacationing with her father, stepmother and step-siblings. Anna’s body was reportedly found beneath the bed in the room where she was staying by a housekeeper.
A court hearing Thursday in a custody dispute between Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, revealed that the couple’s 16-year-old son, Anna’s stepbrother, is considered a suspect in the case. Shauntel and Hudson share two minor children, both of whom were on the cruise.
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“There’s apparently an FBI investigation going on,” Scott Smith, Hudson’s attorney, said at the hearing. “The older child, who’s approximately 16 years of age, is a suspect in the death of the stepchild, an 18-year-old daughter, who was in the same room, staying in the same room on the cruise ship.”
Shauntel’s attorney, Millicent Athanason, confirmed the FBI’s involvement, adding, “The FBI has cleared my client from any wrongdoing; she’s not considered a suspect in this matter at all.”
Athanason said that immediately following the incident on the cruise ship, the 16-year-old was briefly hospitalized before he was placed in the custody of a maternal relative.
FILE – Carnival Horizon cruise ship. (Carnival)
Smith, who argued that he believes the younger child continues to be at risk in Shauntel’s care, alleged that the 16-year-old had been allowed to drink while on the cruise because the ship was in international waters. Athanason flatly denied the allegation, saying “video tapes on the ship confirm there was absolutely no drinking, and DCF investigated and found there was no alcohol in mom’s house whatsoever.”
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Judge Michelle Pruitt Studstill agreed to have an evidentiary hearing on the issue and raised the issue of whether the 16-year-old would testify. “We don’t really want to put him in the middle of it, but I may have to call him as to some of the circumstances,” Smith said.
Athanason said she would object to the child being called to testify. “I don’t want anything being done that could incriminate the young man.”
The FBI has not commented on the investigation and no charges have been filed.
