The father of the cheerleader found dead on a cruise ship in early-November has issued a strong seven-word statement to her stepbrother.
Anna Kepner, 18, was discovered deceased on November 8 in the room she was sharing with her stepbrother onboard a Carnival cruise ship enroute to Miami.
Kepner’s body was found wrapped in a blanket, placed under a bed, and covered in life vests, while two bruises were located on her neck. Her official cause of death has since been recorded as asphyxiation.
The six-night cruise had departed from Miami for a Caribbean getaway — but tragedy struck when 18-year-old Kepner was found dead. Her devastated family later spoke with the media, remembering the teen’s bright spirit and the plans she never got to fulfil.
“She was a people person,” they said in a statement. “She loved being around people. She had that type of energy that just drew you in with her smile and the way she carried herself.”
They added that “She was such an easy person to talk to.”
Kepner was a varsity cheerleader at her high school and was preparing to graduate next May. She already had her future mapped out — a future centered on serving others.
“She had just finished taking the test to join the military,” her family shared. “She was already talking to recruiters and had chosen her career path. She wanted to do something that would help her community.”
At the time of writing, Kepner’s stepbrother, 16, has not been formally named a suspect in the investigation into her death, and has not been charged with her murder.
However, the teen has become the subject of increasing speculation online, so much so that Anna Kepner’s father, Christopher, has weighed in on what he believes, as well as what should happen.
“I want him to face the consequences,” Christopher told PEOPLE.
“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.”
Meanwhile, other documents have revealed that the 16-year-old is currently under investigation, even if no formal charges have been filed.
“We don’t understand why, if the boy is a suspect, why has he not been charged yet,” Krystal Wright, the stepbrother’s aunt, told Fox affiliate station WOFL-TV.
Anna’s grandmother Barbara claimed that the 16-year-old was in a state of emotional distress when the cruise ship arrived in Miami. She added that he couldn’t remember what had happened.
“Whatever happened in that room the only person responsible is the person that was in the room with Anna,” she said.
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