🚨 “I saw him climb on top of her… while she slept. And he always carried a kni-fe.” 😨

That’s the bombshell from Anna Kepner’s ex-boyfriend—words that exploded after a leaked FBI interview room bombshell.

The 16-year-old stepbrother, now the prime suspect, allegedly broke down in tears during questioning: “She fought back… I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

But what really happened in that midnight interrogation? Bruises on his arms. Scratches matching Anna’s nails. And a confession that ties straight to the screams her little brother heard at sea.

The full transcript leak is ripping the family apart—and it’s just the beginning. One wrong move, and the truth unravels everything.

Dive into the interrogation that could send him away forever. This one’s too real to scroll past. 👇

In a stunning development that has gripped the nation, a leaked transcript from an FBI interrogation room has thrust the Anna Kepner cruise ship death investigation into even darker territory. The 16-year-old stepbrother of the slain Florida cheerleader, already named a suspect in explosive court filings, reportedly broke down during a tense overnight session with federal agents, admitting to a violent altercation that escalated “way too fast.” Sources close to the probe, speaking exclusively to Fox News Digital, describe the confession as a raw, emotional unraveling—filled with sobs, denials, and details that align chillingly with the physical evidence recovered from Cabin 8341 aboard the Carnival Horizon.

The leak, which surfaced late Saturday on anonymous true-crime forums before rippling across social media, paints a picture of obsession turned deadly. According to the purported 47-page document, the teen—identified in legal papers only as “T.H.”—allegedly told investigators: “She was screaming, yeah… but I was just trying to calm her down. Things got out of hand. I put my arm across her neck to make her stop, and then… she went quiet.” The words, if verified, could seal his fate in a case ruled a homicide by asphyxiation just days ago.

Anna Grace Kepner, the 18-year-old Titusville high school senior with dreams of Navy service, was discovered lifeless under a bed on November 8, her body wrapped in sheets and partially concealed by life vests. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Friday that the cause of death was manual strangulation via a “bar hold”—an arm pressed across the throat—leaving two distinct bruises on her neck. No signs of sexual assault, drugs, or alcohol were found in her system, per preliminary toxicology reports briefed to the family. But the absence of those elements only sharpens the focus on the interpersonal horror that unfolded in the cramped stateroom she shared with her younger brother and the suspect stepbrother.

The interrogation, conducted aboard the ship immediately after docking and continuing in a Miami field office, began routinely but spiraled as agents pressed the teen on inconsistencies in his story. Transcripts detail how T.H. initially claimed he slept through the night, only to later admit to “checking on” Anna around 1:30 a.m. after hearing her stir. “She was upset about something from dinner,” he reportedly said, his voice cracking under questioning. “We argued. She pushed me, scratched my face. I just wanted her to listen.” Photos from the scene, obtained through court discovery, show fresh scratches on his cheeks and forearms—marks that forensic experts now believe match Anna’s fingernails.

What makes the leak so incendiary is its timing, coming just hours after Anna’s ex-boyfriend, 15-year-old Joshua Westin, went public with his own explosive account. Speaking tearfully outside The Grove Church in Titusville following Anna’s memorial service last Thursday, Westin recounted a 3 a.m. FaceTime call from nine months prior where he allegedly witnessed the stepbrother “climbing on top of her” while she slept. “I saw him in her room, hovering over her bed,” Westin told reporters, his voice barely above a whisper. “She woke up freaked out and made him leave, but she was scared after that. She told me he was obsessed, always following her around, saying creepy stuff like how they’d be ‘together forever’ once she dumped me.”

Westin’s father, Steven, amplified the claims in an “Inside Edition” interview aired Thursday, alleging the stepbrother “always carried a big knife” that made Anna uneasy. “She confided in Josh that it wasn’t just brotherly stuff—it felt wrong,” Steven Westin said. “And now, with what happened on that ship… it’s like all the red flags were there.” The teen reportedly contacted the FBI directly after Anna’s death, providing call logs and screenshots that agents say corroborated his story. “They thanked me for the info,” Westin added. “Said it helped fill in the blanks.”

Back in Brevard County family court, the confession’s shadow looms large over an already fractious custody battle. Shauntel Hudson, Anna’s 36-year-old stepmother and the boy’s mother, filed an emergency motion on November 17 to delay her hearing with ex-husband Thomas Hudson, citing the FBI’s warning that “a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children.” During Thursday’s virtual appearance, Hudson’s attorney, Millicent Athanason, revealed the 16-year-old was hospitalized “immediately after” the body’s discovery—treated for “severe anxiety and minor injuries consistent with a struggle,” according to sources. Athanason vehemently denied allegations from Thomas Hudson’s side that the boy consumed alcohol in international waters during the cruise, insisting a prior Department of Children and Families probe cleared the household of any substance issues.

Thomas Hudson’s lawyer, however, painted a bleaker picture, accusing Shauntel of endangering the children by blending families amid “known tensions.” “Anna and this boy were sharing a room— that’s not oversight; that’s negligence,” attorney Robert Smith argued in court. “And now we learn he was a suspect from the jump? This puts everyone’s future in jeopardy.” The judge, Michelle P. Studstill, ordered all new filings sealed to protect the minor, but not before the leak hit the wires, prompting an FBI statement Saturday afternoon: “We do not comment on ongoing investigations or the veracity of leaked materials. The public is urged to avoid speculation that could compromise the case.”

The blended family’s fractures run deep, tracing back to Christopher Kepner’s—Anna’s father—serial marital history. Now 41, Kepner has wed four times, with his union to Shauntel marking the latest chapter. Anna’s biological mother, Heather Wright, who shares custody of Anna and her 14-year-old son Connor, learned of the death via Google alerts, she told NewsNation in a raw TikTok video last week. “I only spoke to her on birthdays,” Wright said, tears streaming. “And now she’s gone, stuffed under a bed like trash, because of this mess her dad dragged her into.” Wright claims she was never informed about the cabin-sharing arrangement and has demanded full transparency from investigators.

Connor Kepner, the 14-year-old who heard the fatal screams, has been tight-lipped but pivotal. In his initial statement to Carnival security—later forwarded to the FBI—he described waking to “thuds and cries” around 1:30 a.m. on November 8. “It sounded like wrestling, but mean,” he recounted. “Then it stopped. I was scared, so I didn’t move.” By morning, Anna was missing from her bunk, the room eerily still save for the misplaced life vests. Connor alerted his stepmother upon her return, leading to the horrific find at 9:15 a.m., just as the Horizon neared PortMiami.

Federal agents wasted no time. Surveillance footage from Deck 8 shows T.H. exiting and re-entering the cabin multiple times between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., keycard swipes placing him alone with Anna during the estimated window of death—11:17 a.m., per the coroner, though the struggle likely began hours earlier. The missing iPhone, recovered from a trash compactor, yielded deleted texts hinting at unease: “Stay away tonight, ok? -A.” Agents also seized the stepbrother’s belongings, including a pocket knife with traces of what forensics preliminarily IDs as skin cells—not yet matched, but damning in context.

Carnival Cruise Line, under fire for its delayed response, reiterated its cooperation in a terse release: “Guest safety remains paramount. We extend our deepest sympathies and are aiding the FBI fully.” Crew whispers to Fox News Digital suggest internal frustration: “A kid hears screams and no one checks? That’s on us, but the family dynamic was powder keg from day one.”

In Titusville, the #JusticeForAnna movement swells. The bright blue worn at Thursday’s memorial—hundreds strong, with cheer squad chants echoing through The Grove Church—has morphed into online fury. Classmates decry the “family secrets” that stole their star, while petitions demand congressional oversight on cruise line child protections. Anna’s obituary, penned by her step-grandfather Chris Donohue, calls her “the light we lost too soon,” her Navy enlistment just weeks away.

As the FBI pores over the leak—authentic or not—the question hangs: Was this obsession, accident, or cold calculation? T.H., now residing with a maternal relative under protective order, faces juvenile proceedings that could mean life in a facility. Christopher Kepner, stone-faced at the memorial, told reporters: “We’re broken, but we’ll fight for truth.” For Anna’s loved ones, that truth can’t come soon enough.

The seas were her joy; they became her grave. And in the echo of a leaked confession, her story demands justice—no matter how chilling the cost.