In a revelation that pierces the veil of the ongoing FBI homicide probe into the death of Florida teen Anna Kepner, her 15-year-old ex-boyfriend Joshua “Josh” Tew has disclosed that Anna confided in him about a explosive argument with her father, Christopher Kepner, just hours before her fatal evening aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship. The confrontation, which erupted around 3 p.m. on November 6, 2025, over Anna’s reluctance to participate in family activities amid her growing discomfort with the blended household, has now drawn fresh scrutiny from investigators. At its core: three preserved text messages from Anna to Tew, timestamped between 3:47 p.m. and 5:12 p.m., whose innocuous timestamps and content are being dissected for clues about her emotional state, movements, and possible interactions in the lead-up to the “bar hold” asphyxiation that ended her life.
Anna Marie Kepner, the 18-year-old Titusville cheerleader and aspiring Navy recruit whose vibrant spirit lit up Temple Christian School, was discovered concealed under a bed in Cabin 1423 on November 7—wrapped in a blanket, shrouded by life vests, and bearing two neck bruises indicative of violent restraint. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed homicide by mechanical asphyxiation on November 24, escalating the federal investigation into a potential murder case focused on her 16-year-old stepbrother, “T.H.”—a minor now under psychiatric supervision and facing the shadow of charges amid his parents’ custody war. Tew, who dated Anna for eight months until their May 2025 breakup, handed over the texts to the FBI during a November 22 interview, sources say, providing a digital breadcrumb trail that challenges the family’s sanitized narrative of a harmonious cruise.
Tew, speaking exclusively to this outlet from his family’s Titusville home—flanked by his father, Steven Westin, and uncle Jim Tew—recalled the moment Anna’s distress spilled over via phone during the ship’s afternoon shore excursion in Cozumel, Mexico. “She called me crying around 3:15, right after they got back from the beach,” the soft-spoken sophomore said, eyes downcast. “Her dad was pushing her to join this stupid family photo op, but she was freaking out about sharing the cabin with [the stepbrother]. She told him it made her skin crawl, and he blew up—called her ungrateful, said she was ruining the trip for everyone. It was bad; she said he yelled so loud the stepmom had to pull him away.” Anna, ever the peacemaker, retreated to a quiet deck lounge to vent, her voice trembling as she described feeling “trapped” in the blended dynamic her father’s 2022 marriage to Shauntel Hudson had forged.
The Texts: Timestamps as Silent Witnesses
What elevates these exchanges from teenage venting to evidentiary gold is their precision. Tew, a meticulous saver of mementos from their romance, preserved the trio of texts without alteration, their metadata intact for forensic verification. The first, at 3:47 p.m.: “Dad’s being a total jerk rn. Yelling abt the cabin situation. I just want off this boat already. Miss u.” The second, 4:23 p.m.: “Calmed down a bit. Stepmom said we’d switch rooms tomorrow but idk if that’s enough. He always takes his side.” And the third, 5:12 p.m., as the ship weighed anchor: “Heading to dinner soon. Pray for me? Don’t wanna fight again. ❤️”
FBI digital analysts, cross-referencing with the ship’s cell tower pings and key card logs, are mining these for anomalies. The 3:47 p.m. timestamp aligns with a 15-minute gap in family tracking apps, during which surveillance shows Christopher storming off to the promenade deck alone—corroborating Anna’s account of the blowup. The 4:23 p.m. message coincides with a swipe of Cabin 1423 by Shauntel, suggesting a private mediation that Anna dismissed as performative. But the 5:12 p.m. text—sent from the cabin’s Wi-Fi hotspot—flags a critical window: Just 22 minutes earlier, at 4:50 p.m., the stepbrother’s phone logged a deleted photo of Anna, snapped covertly as she unpacked, per subpoenaed device data. “These aren’t just words; they’re anchors in time,” a federal source briefed on the forensics explained. “They show her escalating anxiety, and how it might’ve boiled over post-dinner when she went back alone.”
Investigators theorize the argument’s aftershocks rippled into the night. Anna’s 9:42 p.m. text to her father—”Feels like someone’s always watching me in here”—now reads as an extension of that afternoon trauma, her unease amplified by the confined space and unresolved paternal dismissal. Tew’s texts add emotional context: Was the “prayer” plea a subconscious SOS, ignored amid the family’s push for unity? Agents are subpoenaing Christopher’s phone for replies, probing if his response—or lack thereof—fueled a confrontation that drew in the stepbrother, whose five late-night calls to a friend (10:47 p.m. to 3:22 a.m.) suggest mounting panic.
Blended Fractures: A Father’s Fury and a Daughter’s Dread
The argument wasn’t isolated; it echoed months of simmering discord. Tew first met Anna at a cheer clinic last year, their whirlwind romance ending amicably over her Navy ambitions clashing with his school commitments. But even post-breakup, they stayed close—close enough for her to confide the stepbrother’s “creepy” advances. In February 2025, during a FaceTime sleepover call, Tew watched in horror as T.H. slipped into Anna’s darkened bedroom, knife in pocket, attempting to climb atop her sleeping form. “She woke up screaming, and he threatened her not to tell,” Tew recounted, voice hollow. “I begged her dad to do something—said the kid was obsessed, always staring, following her online. Chris just said, ‘Boys will be boys; it’ll pass.'”
That denial festered. Anna began crashing at friends’ houses, texting Tew at odd hours: “Can’t sleep here. Feels wrong.” Her discomfort peaked pre-cruise, when Christopher insisted on the shared cabin to “bond the siblings”—a cost-saving measure that ignored her pleas. The Cozumel clash, Tew says, crystallized it: Anna wanted a solo room or to bunk with her 14-year-old brother Connor (who’d decamped to his parents’ suite that night), but Christopher saw it as rebellion against his new family. “She loved her dad, but he changed after Shauntel,” Tew added. “Prioritized peace over her safety.”
Connor’s account, relayed to Tew via text the day after docking, bolsters this: Around 3 a.m., he heard “yelling, like Dad’s voice but muffled, then chairs scraping” from the cabin—sounds he mentioned at breakfast but was shushed. Did the afternoon’s paternal rage echo into the night, perhaps escalating when Anna confronted the stepbrother alone?
Probe Deepens: From Texts to Timelines
The texts have supercharged the FBI’s timeline reconstruction. Pre-argument, at 2:15 p.m., family photos show Anna beaming in Cozumel—her last unshadowed smile. Post-5:12 p.m., dinner footage captures strained smiles, Anna excusing herself at 9:05 p.m. amid sore braces and simmering tension. Key cards log her solo entry; the stepbrother lingers outside at 9:35 p.m., peering in. By 11:50 p.m., he’s back alone, his phone search—”How to make someone quiet without noise”—timestamped 10:22 p.m., overlapping her final activity.
In Brevard County Family Court, Shauntel’s November 24 filing invokes the Fifth again, citing the texts as “newly discovered evidence” complicating custody of T.H. and her younger daughter. Thomas Hudson counters, alleging Christopher’s “volatile temper” enabled neglect—claims now FBI-reviewed alongside DCF files on prior family scuffles. Carnival, under fire for cabin policies, defends the setup but has quietly compensated the family, sources say.
Legal observers like attorney Randolph Rice predict the texts could sway Juvenile Delinquency Act decisions: “They humanize Anna’s fear, making transfer to adult court more viable if motive ties to family strife.” Profiler Jennifer Coffindaffer adds, “Paternal arguments can trigger proxy violence in obsessed dependents—like a stepbrother seeking to ‘protect’ or possess.”
Echoes of Loss: A Mother’s Shadow, A Boyfriend’s Vow
Heather Wright, Anna’s biological mother, learned of the texts through Tew’s public statements, her estrangement from Christopher a chasm widened by the divorce. Barred from the November 20 memorial—where bright-clad mourners filled The Grove Church—she attended disguised, later telling FOX 35, “My girl begged for help, and he yelled instead? Those timestamps are her heartbeat fading.” The service, alive with Anna’s favorite songs, saw Tew place a cheer pom-pom on her photo, whispering, “I should’ve fought harder for you.”
Online, #JusticeForAnna surges, with X users poring over leaked timelines: “Afternoon fight + watching text = motive. Wake up, Kepners.” A scholarship fund nears $250,000, fueling K9 Navy dreams in her name.
Christopher, holed up since the ruling, issued a statement via attorney: “We grieve together; the probe will reveal truth.” But for Tew, it’s personal: “Those texts? They’re why I spoke. Anna deserved a dad who listened, not one who silenced her.”
As linguists parse phrasing for distress—emojis as veiled pleas—the case unmasks blended perils: Arguments unchecked, fears dismissed. Anna, the gymnast with a boat license and boundless heart, texted her dread into eternity. The FBI (1-800-CALL-FBI) presses on; her words demand daylight.
