In a tragic case that has gripped the nation given just how terribly sad it is, an 18-year-old Florida cheerleader, Anna Kepner, died mysteriously on November 7, 2025, aboard the Carnival Horizon during a family Caribbean cruise from Miami.
The deceased teen was discovered under her cabin bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life jackets, preliminary reports indicate asphyxiation from a chokehold, with bruises noted but toxicology still pending. No official cause has been released by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner.
According to those who knew her, Kepner was a high school senior aspiring to join the Navy and become a K-9 officer. The teen shared poignant TikTok posts days before boarding, reflecting on heartbreak: “Even after every breakup… I will always have a smile on my face and a kind heart.”
Ominously, her final post lamented a recent breakup: “You deserve to be happy, but if it ain’t with me then nvm.” She shared a cabin with her 16-year-old stepbrother, who FBI sources say is a suspect amid a possible altercation; they shared the room with another sibling.
Others have pointed to court filings in stepmother Shauntel Kepner’s custody battle with ex-husband Thomas Hudson (T.H.’s father) describe him as a “suspect.” Hudson seeks custody of their 9-year-old daughter, citing “questionable” cruise judgment.
Anna’s birth mother, Heather Wright, learned of the death via Google and was barred from the November 20 memorial. Father Christopher Kepner insists the family was questioned, but details remain unclear.
In any case, one of the relevant TikTok posts read, “Even after every breakup, being disrespected, being lied to, being cheated on, being used, getting manipulated, getting played, I will always have a smile on my face and a kind heart.”
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Additionally, Anna Kepner posted, “I don’t know why I’ve been through what I’ve been through, but I can promise you, I never deserved it. Am I mad at those people for what they did to me? No. Am I upset? Yes. You deserve to be happy, but if it ain’t with me then nvm.”
Speaking about the tragic death, Christopher Kepner, Anna’s father, said to the media,”We were there as a family. Everybody was questioned. Everybody came off that ship. I don’t know who they are looking at or what their investigation is,” the man claimed.
However, court filings reveal a darker side to the story. A Court filing by Shauntel Kepner’s attorney noted, “There is an open investigation regarding [Kepner’s] death… and T.H. is a suspect regarding this death, which occurred recently on a cruise ship.”
Similarly, a Court filing in a custody case revealed, “It is true that there is an open investigation regarding the death of the biological daughter of the step-father, and the 16-year-old is a suspect regarding this death, which occurred recently on a cruise ship.”
Offering another look, Attorney Eric Smith, who represents Thomas Hudson, said, “Apparently there’s an FBI investigation ongoing that the mother took the two younger children on a cruise and that the older child who is approximately 16 years of age is a suspect in the death of the stepchild, an 18 year old daughter that was in the same room, staying in the same room on the cruise ship so we’re very concerned with those circumstances.”
Watch the ABC report on her passing here: