The grief-stricken father of cheerleader Anna Kepner revealed the horrifying moment he found his slain daughter shoved under a bed – after her stepbrother allegedly killed her on a family vacation.
Christopher Kepner, 41, was among the first on the grim scene after a maid cleaning the cruise ship cabin that Anna shared with her stepsibling made the unthinkable discovery.
“I checked her pulse. I pulled her out from under the bed,” Kepner told the Daily Mail.
“I knew my daughter was dead long before the medical examiner got there. I don’t want to be back in that room.”
Anna, an 18-year-old cheerleader, had also been wrapped in a blanket and covered in lifejackets inside the room on the Carnival Cruise ship Horizon.
Her stepbother, Timothy Hudson, is headed to trial June 1 in Miami federal court on first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse charges in the Nov. 7 slaying.
Hudson is accused of strangling his stepsister and cramming her body under the bed during the six-day voyage.
Here is the latest on Anna Kepner, cheerleader found dead on Carnival Cruise:
- Outrage as teen accused of raping and murdering stepsister Anna Kepner on cruise is free: ‘He is a danger’
- Anna Kepner was allegedly raped by her 16-year-old stepbrother before he intentionally killed her: indictment
- Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother charged with her cruise ship murder: reports
- Anna Kepner’s insomniac stepbrother says he doesn’t remember anything about the night she was strangled on cruise
Kepner revealed in the Daily Mail interview that he and his wife will not attend the trial, saying he can’t possibly “relive” the tragic moment he discovered his slain daughter on a family vacation.
“Unless they ask for me to be there, neither my wife or I will be attending,” the devastated dad said.
“I’ve heard all the evidence. I saw it for myself. They have everything they need. It’s going to be too painful to relive it all again.”
He said the family plans to build a butterfly garden and embrace the spirited teen’s favorite pastimes in her memory.
“We are celebrating Anna by keeping it all about her and doing the things she liked,” Kepner added.
“We want to remember Anna how she lived — and not how she died.”
Hudson — reportedly “obsessed” with Anna and was once caught trying to sexually assault her — was first charged as a juvenile before his case was moved to adult court, where a grand jury indicted him.
The twisted stepbrother, who will be tried as an adult, has been staying with his paternal uncle and wearing an electronic monitoring device since his February arrest.
