Anna Kepner: Text messages reveal family conversations hours after teen's death aboard cruise ship

VIERA, Fla. - Released text messages show what happened in the hours following the death of a teen girl onboard a Carnival cruise ship in November. Messages between Anna Kepner's stepmom and her ex-husband show the family's concern regarding their 16-year-old son's name being kept out of the media, keeping information from being released and maintaining that their son doesn't remember anything. 

Anna Kepner died from asphyxiation – or being deprived of oxygen. Following her death, a suspect has yet to be publicly identified. 

However, text exchanges between Anna's stepmom, Shauntel Hudson-Kepner, and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, give a glimpse into what was going through the family's mind one day after Anna's body was found. Very little about Anna was mentioned in the messages. 

Here's what the text messages reveal: 

‘He can’t remember anything' 

Text messages between Shauntel Hudson-Kepner and her ex-husband, Thomas Kepner, start on Nov. 8, around 7:30 p.m., with Hudson-Kepner saying, "I need you to call me asap. It’s an emergency." 

Hudson then suggested picking up their daughter, which Hudson-Kepner declined, saying, the girl was only told that the 16-year-old son was "having a hard time coping with loosing anna so he’s getting checked out by the hospital."

In a Dec. 5 court appearance, Hudson-Kepner’s attorney said the 16-year-old’s father signed off on him living with a relative after he was released from the hospital when the cruise ship docked, "therefore removing any risk of any danger to any of the other children in the home." 

The son took medication for ADHD and insomnia, Hudson-Kepner said during the Dec. 5 court hearing. He had not taken the insomnia medication for two nights on the cruise, including the night before Anna's body was found, Hudson-Kepner confirmed before a judge in court. 

In a Nov. 9 text exchange between Hudson-Kepner and Kepner around 10:20 a.m., Hudson-Kepner spoke about a short interaction she had with her son while he was in a facility. 

"I was able to talk to him last night for under two minutes briefly he just keeps repeating over and over he can’t remember anything," Hudson-Kepner said. 

"I don’t even know if they were allowed to let me talk to him or not but the nurse was very nice and let me talk to him just to tell him that you and i love him," she continued. 

'Everything is supposed to be hush, hush for now'

Text messages show that the family was trying to keep facts about the events and the teen boy's possible connection to Anna's death out of the media and social media. The family even asserted that they don't want the son's name released.

"OK, I know everything is supposed to be hush hush for now but ive seen that it is still getting out with post and comments between facebook tiktok and stuff … i just want to make sure until things are certain that he doesn’t get an(y) unnecessary comments towards him," Hudson texted on Nov. 9 around 10:35 a.m. 

The messages also show a possibility of the teen boy being booked on charges and knowing more depending on the autopsy results.  

Anna's body was found under one of the beds in the same room that she and her siblings apparently shared aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship. Anna's stepmom – Shauntel Hudson-Kepner – testified that Anna shared a cabin with two of her siblings – one of which is her stepbrother who is reportedly being investigated as a possible suspect in her death – and that she doesn't think it was wrong for them to share a cabin. 

"Nobody knows anything about him. He is a minor and has been kept completely out of it we have not said anything to anybody and we are going to try out best to keep it completely out he is a minor so his name shouldn’t be anywhere and when we talk to the fbi again we will reiterate that we do not want his name out there and everything that’s been posted on tiktok and social media nobody knows anything and everybody’s just speculating, we know what i told you last night and we’ll know exactly more when the autopsy is done. Once we get the autopsy today, depending on what it says, depend on whether he’s booked on those charges," Hudson-Kepner responded. 

Local perspective:

Jamie Copenhaver, a former sheriff's detective and investigator, said it appears the family is more concerned about PR, optics and protecting family members than the death of an 18-year-old family member. 

Copenhaver told FOX 35's Esther Bower that these messages alerted his "spidey senses." 

"They did damage control, their own PR department," Copenhaver said. "I’m going to say 100% they know more than what they are telling. We are going to protect you. We are going to keep you out of the light. Let’s stay off of special media."

‘He isn't alone' 

Messages between Hudson-Kepner and Kepner show their support toward their son following Anna's death. 

"I just want him to know that he isn’t just dead to everyone," Hudson told his ex-wife. "Regardless of everything at the moment, he needs his parents, I know you know that. I just would like to have a chance to talk to him as soon as possible."

"We (Chris, me and his parents) told him that yesterday, before they took him, we told him no matter what you and us are with him he isn’t alone," Hudson-Kepner wrote. 

Court documents said the 16-year-old – who is the son of Shauntel-Hudson and Hudson – is a potential suspect in Anna's death. The FBI has not released any details on the teen's death. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner has not publicly released the results of Anna's autopsy or toxicology report. 

What they're saying:

When Bower asked the Kepner family if they had any comment regarding Anna's death, they remained silent. 

What's next:

At this time, the FBI's investigation into Anna's death remains ongoing. Six weeks later, no one has been identified as a murder suspect in Anna's death. 

The Miami-Dade medical examiner has also not released Anna's cause of death. 

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