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A federal magistrate has rescinded an order allowing the 16-year-old stepbrother of Anna Kepner to remain free pending trial, directing the U.S. Marshals Service to take him into custody in the cruise ship murder case.In a 14-page order, which was unsealed June 15, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres granted prosecutors’ motion to revoke the teen’s release and ordered him into U.S. Marshals custody. Torres ruled that once the case was transferred to adult prosecution, federal law governing adult defendants — not juvenile rules — controlled the detention decision.“The government has established, by clear and convincing evidence, that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community going forward,” Torres wrote in the order filed June 10.Torres had previously declined to jail the teen, whose name is not being released by USA TODAY because of his age, and allowed him to remain in the custody of a family member ahead of his trial in September, reported Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network. The teen had been in his uncle's custody since pleading not guilty in April to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.The June 10 order was issued in response to a request from federal prosecutors to have the teen held in detention pending his trial in connection with Kepner's death aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Nov. 7, 2025.Prosecutors said Kepner, 18, was found dead in the cruise ship cabin she shared with the 16-year-old and a 10-year-old sibling. Her biological father and stepmother were staying in another cabin across the hall on the ship.Judge cites danger to community in new orderTorres said the decision to detain the teen was based on "dangerousness," not risk of flight, noting earlier release conditions had been sufficient to ensure the defendant appeared in court."The danger posed by the conduct charged here (the alleged first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse of a young woman and step-sister of the Defendant while they were in confined quarters of a ship at sea) is sufficient by itself to require detention," Torres wrote in his order."A now-decreed adult defendant charged on probable cause with deliberately taking a human life, and sexually assaulting his victim in the course of doing so, presents a danger to himself and to others that no curfew, monitor, or custodial placement can be trusted to contain," the judge continued, later adding that the ruling is not an early conviction as the "presumption of innocence remains fully intact."Torres also acknowledged that the suspect has no prior criminal record, had voluntarily surrendered, and complied with release conditions, according to the order. But the judge wrote that those considerations were outweighed by the severity of the alleged conduct, particularly given the lack of warning signs before the charged crimes.The U.S. Marshals Service is expected to transfer the suspect to South Florida and place him in the Miami-Dade County Metro-West Detention Center pending trial.The murder trial begins Sept. 1 at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Courthouse in Miami. If found guilty, the teen could be sentenced to life in federal prison. The deadline for entering any plea agreement has been set for Aug. 28, court records show.Court documents provide more details about Anna Kepner's deathDuring the May hearing, prosecutors confirmed that DNA evidence retrieved from Kepner’s body through a rape kit was linked to the teen suspect. Torres heard testimony detailing how Kepner died, described as a chokehold by prosecutors.Torres also ruled to unseal a transcript from a February hearing, which was obtained by USA TODAY. The transcript revealed that the medical examiner found that Kepner had bleeding under the skin around the side and back of her neck, which is indicative of strangulation. Her cause of death was ruled mechanical asphyxiation.The medical examiner also found significant bruising on her left ear, suggesting that Kepner had been held in a chokehold "with enough force that such bruising and blood were in the ear area," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra L. López said during the hearing.Kepner's body, wrapped in a blanket, was stuffed beneath a bed and obscured by a box of life vests in the cabin she shared with her stepbrother and her younger half brother. DNA found inside Kepner's body came back as a strong match for her stepbrother, according to the transcript.Contributing: Melina Khan, USA TODAY
