ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A 16-year-old boy who is under investigation in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship appeared in federal court in South Florida late last week, but the reasons have been obscured because of his age.
Unlike adults, juvenile cases are closed to the public, so there was no explanation why the teen was on the docket at the Miami courthouse or whether he's been charged with a crime. Juvenile cases aren’t common in federal court and are often sent to state courts, or the juvenile is tried as an adult.
The death of the teen's stepsister, Anna Kepner, was ruled a homicide. Her death has drawn international attention and sparked intense speculation on social media. The Associated Press is not naming the teenager because of his age and because any charges that may exist have not been made public.
Here’s what we know about the case.
Anna Kepner was a high school cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Orlando on the state's Space Coast. Friends described her as someone who loved spending time on the water. 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.”
Kepner was part of a blended family after her father, Chris, married Shauntel Hudson, who had three children, including the 16-year-old boy, with ex-husband Thomas Hudson. Much of what is known about the investigation into Kepner's death, including that the stepbrother was a suspect, has come from court documents tied to a custody dispute between the exes.
Anna Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her father, stepmother, her stepmother’s two children and her grandparents. Shauntel Hudson's oldest son is an adult living with her ex-husband.
Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, Kepner's body was found concealed under a bed in a room she was sharing with two other teens, including the younger stepbrother. The cause of death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.
The 16-year-old boy was seen last Friday at the federal courthouse in Miami, wearing a ball cap and a camouflage hoodie pulled tightly around his face. Again, it's unknown if any charges have even been filed.
Juvenile cases in federal court are exceedingly rare. The only reason this case landed there was because Kepner died in international waters, said Fritz Scheller, a defense attorney in Orlando.
Scheller said Wednesday that in 27 years practicing law in federal court, he has never seen a juvenile case.
“The bottom line is the feds really don't have the facilities for juveniles. Where are you going to put them?” Scheller said. “The whole theory of juvenile law is that they are young and you can rehabilitate them. The federal criminal justice system isn't focused on rehabilitation.”
Secrecy is part of the juvenile justice system so that a child's mistakes won't haunt them for life, said Carla Barrett, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York.
“The idea was, kids are malleable. They’re worthy of some sort of attempt at rehabilitation,” said Barrett, who wrote a book on juvenile justice, “Courting Kids: Inside an Experimental Youth Court.”
After the teen's court appearance, Anna Kepner's father Chris and stepmother Shauntel, the suspect's biological mother, issued a statement to ABC News in which they said they were disturbed “that the person responsible is able to walk freely.”
“This reality adds to our grief and outrage,” they said. "It is devastating to know that while we live every day with the loss of our child, the individual responsible has not yet been fully held accountable. This only strengthens our resolve to continue seeking justice for our daughter.”
The couple also said Anna Kepner deserved justice "and her life deserves to be honored through a full and fair legal process.”
Anna Kepner's biological mother, Heather Wright, said on social media that she hoped for a full resolution of the case.
“Pray for justice for my daughter,” she said.
The Associated Press has reached out to multiple family members, the FBI and federal prosecutors, but none have responded.
FILE - Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Horizon cruise ship is shown docked at PortMiami, April 9, 2021, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Police on Wednesday identified the suspect in a school shooting in Canada as an 18-year-old who had prior mental health calls to her home and who was found dead following the attack that killed nine people in a remote part of British Columbia.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said Van Rootselaar had a history of mental health contact with police, and that the suspect’s mother and stepbrother were also found dead in a home near the school.
The motive remained unclear.
More than 25 people were wounded Tuesday in the attack in the small mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, including two with life-threatening injuries who were airlifted for medical care, police said.
The village of 2,700 people in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver, near the provincial border with Alberta.
“Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you, and Canada stands by you,” an emotional Prime Minister Mark Carney said as he arrived in Parliament.
The attack was Canada’s deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead.
Carney said flags at government buildings will be flown at half-staff for seven days and added: “We will get through this."
Shelley Quist said her neighbor across the street lost her 12-year-old. “We heard his mom. She was in the street crying. She wanted her son’s body,” Quist said.
Quist said her 17-year-old son, Darian, was on lockdown in the school for more than two hours. The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as having 175 students in grades 7 to 12.
“The grade sevens and eights, I think, were upstairs in the library, and that’s where the shooter went,” she said. Her son was in the library just 15 minutes prior to the attack.
Quist was working at the hospital down the street when the shooting started.
“I was about to go run down to the school, but my coworker held me back. And then I was able to get Darian on the phone to know he was OK,” she said.
School shootings are rare in Canada, which has strict gun-control laws. The government has responded to previous mass shootings with gun-control measures, including a recently broadened ban on all guns it considers assault weapons.
British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters that police reached the school within two minutes.
A video showed students walking out with their hands raised as police vehicles surrounded the building and a helicopter circled overhead.
Police found six people dead, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Ken Floyd said. A seventh person died while being transported to a hospital, and two more were found dead at a residence that authorities believe was connected to the attack.
Floyd told reporters that investigators had identified the suspect but would not release a name. He said police were investigating the connection between the shooter and the victims.
Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka said it was “devastating” to learn how many had died in the community, which he called a “big family.”
“I broke down,” Krakowka said. “I have lived here for 18 years. I probably know every one of the victims.”
The Rev. George Rowe of the Tumbler Ridge Fellowship Baptist Church went to the recreation center where victims’ families were awaiting more information.
“It was not a pretty sight. Families are still waiting to hear if it’s their child that’s deceased and because of protocol and procedure, the investigating team is very careful in releasing names,” Rowe said Tuesday.
Rowe once taught at the high school, and his three children graduated from there.
“To walk through the corridors of that school will never be the same again,” he said.
The school district said the high school and elementary school will be closed for the rest of the week.
Carney’s office said he called off a planned trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Munich, Germany. He had been set to announce a long-awaited defense industrial strategy Wednesday in Halifax before heading to Europe for the Munich Security Conference.
Eby on Tuesday said he had spoken to the prime minister about the “unimaginable tragedy.”
“I know it’s causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight,” he said. “I’m asking the people of British Columbia to look after the people of Tumbler Ridge tonight.”
Gillies reported from Toronto.
Tumbler RIdge Secondary School is shown in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Jesse Boily/The Canadian Press via AP)
Police began putting tape out near the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and surrounding buildings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.(Jesse Boily /The Canadian Press via AP)
The Tumbler Ridge Health Centre in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Canada, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Jesse Boily/The Canadian Press via AP)
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to reporters ahead of a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Spencer Colby /The Canadian Press via AP)
The road is blocked off before the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Canada, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Jesse Boily/The Canadian Press via AP)
This grab from video shows students exiting the Tumbler Ridge school after deadly shootings, in British Columbia, Canada, Tuesday Feb. 10, 2026. (Jordon Kosik via AP)
