Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother, who’s considered a suspect in her death on a Carnival cruise ship in November, appeared before a federal judge in Miami on Friday.
Kepner, 18, was found dead in the cabin she shared with her younger stepbrother and biological brother aboard the Carnival Horizon on Nov. 7 during a vacation with her family.
Her stepbrother, whose identity was withheld, was named as a suspect in earlier court filings.
A lawyer for the stepbrother’s mother revealed in December that the FBI was considering charging the teen.
On Friday, the stepbrother appeared before a federal magistrate in a private courtroom with his public defenders, prosecutors and US Marshals, NBC Miami reported.
The case was still sealed as of Friday evening, so any charges he may face are not yet publicly available.
The teen, who wore a camouflage zip-up and hat, hung his head as he walked out of one courthouse alongside one of his public defenders.
He went from there to a probation office, where defendants are processed for pretrial release, the outlet reported.
Kepner’s body was stashed under her bed after she was “mechanically asphyxiated” to death. A coroner ruled her death a homicide.
The night she was killed, her youngest brother overheard “yelling” coming from the cabin while she was locked in there with their erratic stepbrother.
The stepbrother’s mother, Shauntel Kepner, previously argued that he skipped his usual medication for ADHD and insomnia for two days while on the cruise.
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He was booked in a medical facility just one day after Kepner’s body was recovered and claimed he couldn’t remember anything, according to texts Shauntel sent to her ex-husband.
Kepner’s father, Christopher Kepner, said he wants his stepson to “face the consequences” of his actions, but has been wishy-washy when asked if he thinks the teen actually had a hand in the tragic homicide.
“I cannot say that he is responsible, but I can’t decline,” he said.
“He was the only one that was in the room and the FBI has an ongoing investigation in which they will have to provide the evidence to say that he did do it or did not do this,” he added.
The stepbrother was sent to live with other relatives after Anna’s death to mitigate “risk of any danger” to other children — until they also gave him the boot in early December.
Kepner’s ex-boyfriend claimed she “didn’t feel safe around” her stepbrother, according to his father. He also alleged that the teen was “infatuated” with her.
Kepner, a devout Christian who was just baptized in May, was set to graduate from the Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, this school year.
She aimed to join the US Navy and eventually become a K-9 police officer.
