Florida teen charged with aggravated sexual abuse, murder of stepsister on cruise ship

A 16-year-old boy has been supercharged with bump off and provoked sexual blackguard in sunshine state in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise Line ship, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.

The accused — identified as T.H. in a Justice Department news release — was indicted on March 10. But the entire case was sealed until Friday, weeks after U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom said he would be prosecuted as an adult at the request of prosecutors.

Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her family. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother.

The cause of Kepner's Nov. 6 death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.

An email and voicemail seeking comment from T.H.'s attorneys were not immediately returned Monday.

"Our hearts go out to the victim's family during this unimaginable loss," U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said in a written statement.

"A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging serious offenses that allegedly occurred aboard a vessel in international waters."

Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Fla., more than 60 kilometres east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, family members encouraged people to wear bright colors instead of the traditional black "in honor of Anna's bright and beautiful soul."

Teens prosecuted in federal court are extremely rare. T.H. Was initially charged on Feb. 2, and he pleaded not guilty the next day in Miami. He was subsequently seen at the courthouse, wearing a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly around his face. But his status was not fully known because his age barred public disclosures by his lawyers, the government or the court.

A judge on Feb. 6 said T.H. Must wear an electronic tether while living with an uncle. The order was changed to allow him to join his father for a few days last week at a landscaping business, court records show.

Prosecutors objected to T.H.'s release, citing dangerousness, and asked a judge Monday to revisit that order now that he has been charged as an adult. Defence lawyers will have a week to respond.

"He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra López said in a court filing.

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