Cruise Ship Lawyers Blog
The stepbrother of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, a Florida teen found murdered on a cruise ship, has been indicted on criminal charges of murder and sexual abuse, according to national media.
The 16-year-old stepbrother, who has only been identified as T.H., will be tried as an adult for the November 2025 death of his stepsister. He has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.
The announcement came on April 10 after a federal grand jury returned an indictment based on evidence presented by prosecutors. As of Wednesday, April 15, T.H was not in custody and is staying with an uncle and accompanying his father to work, according to reporting from PEOPLE. Prosecutors are now allegedly asking the court to revoke his release and hold him in pretrial detention, the news outlet reported.
On Feb.3, 2026, T.H. surrendered himself at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, was arraigned, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Due to his age, he is subject to the Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act, which generally favors release pending proceedings unless the prosecutors demonstrate that detention is necessary. A juvenile may be detained pretrial if there is a risk of flight or a risk to the safety of themselves and/or others. Now that he is being tried as an adult, prosecutors may argue that he be detained.
What Happened?
The family was vacationing aboard the Carnival Cruise Line’s Horizon in November 2025 when the body of their daughter was found under a bed in a cabin. A housekeeper found the Titusville, Florida, teen’s body.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, officials said that T.H. allegedly sexually assaulted Kepner during the trip before her death in international waters while the ship was on its way back to Miami. Authorities determined her cause of death to be mechanical asphyxiation.
Kepner’s grandparents told reporters with the BBC that there was “no such thing ate steps” between the siblings.”
“It’s all family,” the girl’s grandfather, Jeffrey Kepner, told reporters. “It’s a blended family, yes, but that’s now how our family is. Our dynamic is we’re all just family.”
Kepner, who was expected to graduate from high school in May, was described as a bright student who planned to join the military. In a previous statement to ABC News, Kepner’s family told reporters that “she wanted to do something that would help her community.”
“She was a people person,” her family 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. She was such an easy person to talk to.”
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a personal injury law firm that has represented the victims of cruise ship accidents for five decades. In that time, our attorneys handled cases involving horrifying shore excursion accidents, slip and falls, medical negligence by a ship’s health professionals, and injuries resulting from crimes aboard ships. As the industry continues to experience rapid expansion following a total shutdown in 2020 during the pandemic, the data shows that crimes are on the rise. In 2025, the industry reached a two-year high, according to experts.
The U.S. Department of Transportation publishes cruise ship crime data reported to the FBI — the agency that investigates these crimes — online. There were approximately five assaults with serious bodily injury, one suspicious death, one homicide, one missing person’s case, 16 sexual assaults, and 13 rapes from October to December of 2025, according to the USDOT’s latest findings.
In a 2024 article published by the Daily Business Review, Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, said that he does see an uptick in crimes aboard ships but that the increase could be attributed to an increase in passenger population compounded with a lack of security and action from these major corporations. These issues, he said, especially concerning incidents of sexual abuse aboard ships, will continue until there is more enforcement in place to prevent these crimes.
“That’s just kind of a one in a long series of why there’s more sexual abuse and sexual activity on the ships, and I think your question is why? And I think the answer that I see is very lax policing, and very lax training, because a lot of the people … are crew members. This guy was a crew member,” he said.
The firm is handling an ongoing case involving a crew member who placed a hidden camera in the cabins of unsuspecting cruise ship passengers. Many of the passengers who were filmed were children. This crew member was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child sex abuse material.
Despite the sentencing, this nightmare is far from over for these victims. Left reeling with this horrific invasion of privacy, our client was left traumatized.
That case is being handled by Trial Attorney Bernardo Pimentel II.
Our attorneys approach every case with the compassion and determination required to pursue the best possible outcome for each client. As a team of skilled trial lawyers, Leesfield & Partners is unwavering in its commitment to holding all responsible parties accountable and securing justice for those who have been injured, as well as for families facing profound loss.
Leesfield & Partners: Representing the Victims and Survivors of Violent Crimes
In a traumatic case handled by Leesfield & Partners attorneys, a Canadian single woman who was traveling on a cruise ship was raped by a crewmember. The cruise line employee was able to gain entry into the woman’s room using a key card from the ship before he attacked her multiple times. This case resulted in a multi-million-dollar recovery for the woman.
Though not on a cruise ship, Mr. Leesfield and Trial Attorney Carlos A. Fabano previously represented four adults who were sexually abused as children by a church official. Throughout the decades, these individuals have been deeply affected by the abuse they suffered as children at the hands of someone meant to protect and guide them and the ignorance of other adults who knew or should have known but did nothing to stop the abuse from taking place.
A confidential settlement was obtained on behalf of our clients.
Previously, Partner Justin B. Shapiro secured a $16 million settlement on behalf of a couple who were staying at a Florida hotel when they were savagely beaten, and the wife was raped and sexually assaulted by a man who was not a guest at the hotel. The property had no required keycard access on elevators that would have prevented the man from traveling up to the couple’s floor. Additionally, neither security not hotel employees stopped or questioned the man when he entered the property.
The hotel had been previously advised by police and a private security company to hire armed guards due to its previous history of violence. To save money, however, hotel officials did not heed this warning and took no action to improve safety measures to protect its guests or employees. Making matters worse, the attack was witnessed by both employees and the security that the hotel already had. Neither party intervened to try and stop the violent assault.
Leesfield & Partners recovered $8.6 million against a prestigious overnight camp in Florida after they failed to notice the signs of one of their counselors who sexually abused a child in their care.
A well-respected Florida high school was forced to pay multi-million-dollar reparations to numerous students represented by Leesfield & Partners. These reparations were made following the serial sexual abuse our clients suffered at the hands of their teacher.
The firm represented a store clerk who worked at an outlet mall who was sexually assaulted while on the job. This horrific incident happened in the store in the middle of the day. After a careful investigation, our attorneys discovered that it was the absence of security at the mall that contributed to this crime.
Leesfield & Partners obtained over $1.1 million for the client in this case.
In a similar case in which a Key West hotel maid was raped on the job by a man who was not a guest at the hotel, our firm obtained a $1 million recovery.
The firm settled a wrongful death case on behalf of a 25-year-old man who died following an unprovoked punch to the head at a Florida bar. This bar failed to staff the premises with security guards or off-duty police officers who would have deterred and prevented this incident from occurring. The assailant in this case was sentenced to nine years in prison for the young man’s death.
The firm obtained a $1 million settlement from a $25,000 insurance policy in that inadequate security case.
An unaccompanied minor was represented by Leesfield & Partners after she was sexually abused by a passenger on an airline. The child was meant to be under the supervision of flight attendants who failed to properly watch over and protect the child.
A confidential settlement was reached with the airline.
In a child sex abuse case involving a negligent youth center, Leesfield & Partners obtained a $650,000 result for our minor client.
