The 16-year-old stepbrother of Anna Kepner was arrested and charged last week in connection with the teenager’s death, according to ABC News. The arrest comes three months after Anna died on the Carnival Horizon on November 7, 2025. Her death was ruled a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation.
The teenager was previously named as a
Last week the Department of Transportation (DOT) published its quarterly cruise crime data for Q4 2025. The data followed similar trends from the last several years, with one exception — Carnival Cruise Line (hereinafter Carnival) reported only three (3) crimes on its ships and zero physical assaults with serious injuries.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported 44 crimes across all cruise lines in Q4 of 2025. Royal Caribbean led the cruise industry in crime while Carnival saw a sharp drop compared to Q3 2025.
The DOT tracks crimes by the quarter they were reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of the
A 69-year-old grandmother spent several days in the infamous Bahamian Fox Hill Prison after she was arrested for bringing a gun on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
On December 2, Mary Robinson forgot to leave her pistol in her car before she went through security in Port Everglades. Troublingly, port security did not detect the
A passenger was arrested after an alleged assault on an elderly man aboard the Norwegian Encore, according to authorities. The incident took place on Saturday, November 22, and the passenger, Phillip Ortiz, 38, was arrested the same day.
Ortiz has been charged with aggravated battery on a person 65 or older, according to an
A man who allegedly assaulted a teenager onboard the Carnival Mardi Gras on November 22 has been disembarked, according to a tip from a passenger.
Cruise Law News previously reported that the man made a threatening remark before he went to the ship’s teen club and allegedly attacked the teen, who was reportedly “badly injured.”
A passenger aboard the Carnival Mardi Gras contacted Cruise Law News reporting that an adult male passenger assaulted a teenager in the ship’s teen club at around 9:30 pm on November 22.
The tipster, who wishes to remain anonymous, is on the same hall as the alleged assailant and saw him before and after the
A minor may face charges in connection with the death of Anna Kepner according to a court filing obtained by ABC News. The report states that one of Anna’s step-siblings may be charged with a crime and that her stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, has been in contact with the FBI.
Mrs. Hudson was on the
New details emerged in the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner aboard the Carnival Horizon. The Daily Mail first reported that the teen was “found wrapped in a blanket, covered over with life jackets and stuffed under a bed.”
The tabloid details how on November 6 Anna complained of feeling unwell during dinner and went
Carnival Cruise Line (Carnival) is again the cruise line leader in onboard crime, per the Q3 cruise crime data maintained by the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT reported 47 crimes for all cruise lines from July 1 through September 30, 2025. In total, the DOT has reported 138 crimes so far this year.
The
Royal Caribbean topped all cruise lines in crime during the second quarter of 2025, per the most recent crime report from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT reported 43 crimes for all cruise lines from April 1st to June 30th, 2025, bringing the total reported crimes to 91 so far this year.
This
Carnival maintained its reputation as the most violent cruise line leading all cruise lines in crime for 2025 per the recent report from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The last time a cruise line had more crime than Carnival was Royal Caribbean from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
The DOT releases cruise
A second man was arrested for the death of a 60-year-old British man on the MSC Virtousa during its May 3rd–5th voyage. The man was identified as a 56-year-old from Richmond, London. The man’s name was not released by authorities. The first man arrested was a 57-year-old man from Exeter. Both men
British police arrested one man, 57 years old, for the suspected murder of a 60-year-old man aboard the MSC Virtuosa. The MSC Virtuoso was on a two-day cruise sailing from Southampton, England.
The cruise was just two hours into its voyage when the incident took place. The cruise continued its scheduled voyage after the incident.
The popular Crew Center published a video showing what it described as “chaos” which “erupted at the Galveston Cruise Terminal when a massive brawl broke out in the luggage pickup area, after guests disembarked from the cruise ship Carnival Jubilee.” The video had apparently been posted on the Facebook page – COPs – Cruisers
The cruise crime data, released earlier this week as part of the quarterly reporting by the Department of Transportation (DOT), again shows that Carnival Cruise Line clearly has the most sexual assaults and rapes as well as the most physical assault with serious personal injuries, both in total numbers and on a per capita basis.
A grand jury recently indicted a 27 year-old resident of Pennsylvania for strangling and beating a woman, who appears to be his girlfriend, during a cruise aboard a cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to the Caribbean a year and a half ago.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) cruise crime statistics, mandated by the 2010 Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, continue to show that Carnival Cruise Line remains by far the most likely cruise line to experience physical and sexual violence at sea.
Assaults With Serious Bodily Injury
Carnival Cruise Line reported eight (8) assaults with
