The grief-stricken father of cheerleader Anna Kepner, who was allegedly killed by her stepbrother, will not attend the June murder trial – revealing he can’t possibly “relive” the tragic moment he discovered his slain daughter on a family vacation.
“Unless they ask for me to be there, neither my wife or I will be attending,” Christopher Kepner told the Daily Mail.
“I’ve heard all the evidence. I saw it for myself. They have everything they need. It’s going to be too painful to relive it all again.”
Kepner’s stepson, Timothy Hudson, is set to go to trial June 1 in Miami federal court on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the Nov. 7 slaying.
The warped suspect is accused of strangling his 18-year-old stepsister on the Carnival Cruise ship Horizon and cramming her body under the bed in the room they were sharing.
Here is the latest on Anna Kepner, cheerleader found dead on Carnival Cruise:
- Outrage as teen accused of raping and murdering stepsister Anna Kepner on cruise is free: ‘He is a danger’
- Anna Kepner was allegedly raped by her 16-year-old stepbrother before he intentionally killed her: indictment
- Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother charged with her cruise ship murder: reports
- Anna Kepner’s insomniac stepbrother says he doesn’t remember anything about the night she was strangled on cruise
The devastated dad was among the first on the grim scene when a maid found his daughter wrapped in a blanket and her body covered in lifejackets under the bed.
“I checked her pulse. I pulled her out from under the bed,” Kepner said.
“I knew my daughter was dead long before the medical examiner got there. I don’t want to be back in that room.”
Instead of attending the trial, Kepner told the Mail his family will reunite June 13 to honor what would’ve been Anna’s 19th birthday.
