(BREVARD COUNTY, Fla.) — Weeks after 18-year-old Anna Kepner mysteriously died on a cruise ship and her stepbrother was named a “suspect” by his parents in a court filing, the stepbrother’s mom appeared at a hearing, fighting to retain custody of her younger child. Kepner died on the Carnival Horizon in November while on a Caribbean vacation with her grandparents, father, stepmother, siblings and stepsiblings. A copy of the death certificate provided to ABC News by Kepner’s family showed the Florida high school cheerleader “was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s).” An autopsy report has not been released and authorities have not announced whether they believe Kepner’s death was in fact a homicide. The FBI and medical examiner’s office haven’t commented on the case. The stepbrother’s parents, Thomas Hudson and Shauntel Hudson, are fighting over custody, and have in court documents referred to the stepbrother — who is a minor — as a suspect in Kepner’s death. At a hearing in Brevard County, Florida, on Friday, the judge didn’t find that the Hudsons’ youngest child is in imminent danger of harm by continuing to live with Shauntel Hudson and her husband, Chris Kepner, who is Anna Kepner’s father. The “suspect” stepbrother has been living with Shauntel Hudson’s relatives since the family returned from the cruise. Shauntel Hudson’s attorney said she didn’t know how long he would remain with relatives, given that the family isn’t sure what the outcome will be of the FBI’s investigation into Anna Kepner’s death. Shauntel Hudson said she’s been informed it’s possible investigators could charge her son with a crime as officials await results from toxicology tests. Her attorney also informed the court they’re waiting on “psychological and psychiatric testing.”
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