MIAMI
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with homicide and aggravated sexual abuse in Florida within the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship, the US Justice Department stated Monday.
The teen, recognized by the federal government as T.H., was initially charged as a juvenile on Feb. 2, however the case was sealed till U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom stated that he could be prosecuted as an grownup on the request of prosecutors.
Court information present his protection legal professionals didn’t object. An e mail and voicemail looking for remark from T.H.’s attorneys concerning the indictment weren’t instantly returned.
Anna Kepner had been touring on the Carnival Horizon ship in November with her household. Before the ship was scheduled to return to Florida, her physique was discovered hid beneath a mattress in a room she was sharing with two different teenagers, together with the youthful stepbrother.
The reason behind Kepner’s Nov. 6 loss of life was decided to be mechanical asphyxia, which is when an object or bodily power stops somebody from respiratory.
Kepner was a highschool cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, Florida, some 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Orlando. At her memorial service in November, relations inspired folks to put on vibrant colours as a substitute of the normal black “in honor of Anna’s bright and beautiful soul.”
Teens prosecuted in federal courtroom are extraordinarily uncommon. T.H. was seen at the Miami courthouse in February, carrying a ball cap and a hoodie pulled tightly round his face. But his standing at the moment was not totally identified as a result of his age barred public disclosures by his legal professionals, the federal government or the courtroom.
A choose on Feb. 6 stated T.H. should put on an digital tether whereas residing with an uncle. The order was later amended to permit him to quickly work with his father at a landscaping enterprise, courtroom information present.
Experts imagine the case is in federal courtroom, and not a state courtroom the place teenagers are generally prosecuted, as a result of Kepner died in worldwide waters.