Court filings in an ongoing custody battle are shedding light on the tragic death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, revealing a 32-hour silence following the discovery of her body.
The documents, obtained by People magazine, provided a timeline of the events surrounding Anna’s death, after a room steward found her lifeless in her cabin aboard the Carnival Horizon on November 7.
A previous Brevard County, Florida, court hearing indicated that Anna’s 16-year-old stepbrother is a suspect in the death, although the FBI has not yet confirmed the information.
During the latest custody hearing battle, the court heard how nearly a day and a half passed before the victim’s stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, alerted the 16-year-old’s father, Thomas Hudson, to Anna’s death.
Hudson is fighting for custody of his 9-year-old daughter, who is currently in Shauntel’s custody.
According to evidence submitted in the custody dispute, at around 7:30 p.m. on November 8—roughly 32 hours after the body was found—Shauntel Kepner sent a message to Hudson.
The subject line read, “Emergency.”
“I need you to call me asap it’s an emergency,” the message stated.
The significant delay has raised questions.
Documents revealed an exchange between the former couple regarding their son’s legal and personal welfare. Hudson submitted evidence of a heated argument triggered by Shauntel’s decision to cancel a scheduled visit between Hudson and his youngest daughter.
In a response to his ex-wife, Hudson suggested that Shauntel had been distancing herself from the investigation to protect her current marriage.
“I kept my mouth shut when you told me that you can’t jeopardize your marriage for helping [redacted] your son,” Hudson wrote.
During a December 5 custody hearing, a Brevard County judge had been told that their teenage son is now living with a relative.
He is at an undisclosed location that only Shauntel Kepner, Hudson, and law enforcement know. They did this to remove “any risk of any danger to any of the other children in the home.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Anna died by asphyxiation after someone held an arm across her neck, known as a bar hold or choke hold.
The room steward reportedly discovered Anna’s body at around 11 a.m. 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 custody dispute remains active, according to People magazine, as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of Anna Kepner’s death.
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[Feature Photo: Anna Kepner/Instagram]