Authorities have ruled the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, a Florida teenager who died earlier this month aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship, as a homicide. According to a copy of her death certificate obtained by ABC News, Kepner’s cause of death was listed as “mechanical asphyxia,” indicating she was “mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s).” Mechanical asphyxia occurs when an external object or force prevents normal breathing, explained Stephen Nelson, a Central Florida chief medical examiner not involved in the case.
Kepner, a high school cheerleader from Florida’s Space Coast who was set to graduate next year, had been on the cruise with her father, stepmother, step-siblings, and grandparents.
Her grandmother, Barbara Kepner, told ABC News that the teen spent the previous evening with her grandparents in the ship’s casino. “She said, ‘Meemaw, I love you guys. I’ll see you later,’” Barbara recalled. “We never saw her again after that.
The next morning, a medical alert rang out across the ship, summoning first responders to the cabin Anna shared with two other teens, including her younger stepbrother. According to her grandmother, a room attendant discovered Anna’s body “concealed under the bed
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