Family of cheerleader strangled to death on cruise ship says stepbrother should be charged with murder

Family members of Anna Kepner have said that her stepbrother should be charged with her murder after it was confirmed that the high school cheerleader died by strangulation on a cruise ship. Kepner's body was found stuffed under a bed in her cruise ship room earlier in November.

Kepner, 18, “was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s)," according to the death certificate issued on Monday. As those revelations have come, family members of Kepner's have said her stepbrother should be charged in the killing. The stepbrother has reportedly been listed as a suspect in the case. Kepner was sharing the cabin with her stepbrother at the time she was killed.

“We don’t understand why, if the boy is a suspect, why has he not been charged yet? What’s happening there?” Kepner's aunt, Krystal Wright, told reporters at Fox 35. “It’s turmoil. We’re just sitting here waiting."

Kepner's father has also called for his son to face consequences if he was the one behind the killing when he spoke to reporters at People. He declined to confirm or deny the stepson's possible involvement in the killing, but added, "I do not stand behind what my stepson has done."

"I want him to face the consequences ... I will be fighting to make sure that does happen," he added. When he was asked if he thought that it was his stepson who was responsible for the death, he said, "I cannot say that he is responsible, but I can’t decline. He was the only one that was in the room and the FBI has an ongoing investigation in which they will have to provide the evidence to say that he did do it or did not do this."

The family learned that Kepner's 16-year-old stepbrother is a suspect through unrelated custody files. However, no charges have been filed in the FBI investigation. Wright added that she believes her niece fought back against the culprit in her death. "I know Anna fought. I know she fought for her life, so it’s rough. It’s rough."

Thus far, the FBI has not publicly named a suspect or others connected to the homicide despite the reference to the stepbrother in the documents.