A 16-year-old boy has been charged with abusing and murdering his stepsister during a family vacation on a Carnival cruise ship in November, prosecutors announced.
The US Department of Justice alleges the boy "sexually assaulted and intentionally killed" 18-year-old Anna Kepner while the Carnival Horizon was in international waters.
The stepbrother, whom authorities did not identify, was initially charged as a juvenile, but has since been indicted as an adult on first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse charges, prosecutors said.
Kepner was a cheerleader who was expected to graduate from secondary school in Florida in May and wanted to join the military, her family said.
Her body was found under a bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests, ABC News reported.
