Stepmom of dead teen on Carnival cruise takes the 5th as feds investigate son

Jami Ganz, New York Daily News on Nov 21, 2025

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The stepmother of Anna Kepner, the high school senior found dead on a Carnival cruise ship earlier this month, has invoked the Fifth Amendment in a custody battle as one of her minor children faces potential criminal charges in the Florida cheerleader’s death.

Shauntel Hudson — who was traveling with her kids, Kepner and the latter’s father — is pleading the Fifth as her testimony “could be prejudicial to her or her adolescent child in this pending criminal investigation,” per People.

Hudson invoked the right and requested the postponement of a hearing with ex-husband Thomas Hudson, in response to the latter’s emergency motion for temporary relief, obtained by the outlet.

Thomas Hudson’s filing refers to the teen as “a suspect in the death of the step child during the cruise.”

The name of the stepbrother has not been made public, according to Florida Today.

Kepner’s body was reportedly discovered Nov. 8 beneath a bed on the Carnival Horizon ship, with her remains covered in a blanket and life vests. Her cause and manner of death are unclear.

Earlier this week, a security source told ABC News that the FBI was working to determine if the Titusville teenager’s death was connected to an altercation with her stepbrother, a medical emergency or an overdose.

Carnival previously told the outlet that the company’s “focus is on supporting the family of our guest and cooperating with the FBI.”

An online obituary remembers “Anna Banana” as having “filled the world with laughter, love, and light that reached everyone around her.”