SHOCKING BREAKUP REVEALED: anna Kepner’s ex-boyfriend ended things after discovering her stepbrother had been obsessing over her for months, sources say.
Insiders claim 5 secret messages were uncovered that ignited the explosive split… leaving Anna reeling

Haunting last words of Anna Kepner as her death ‘ruled a homicide’

 Passenger who died on Carnival cruise ship identified as 18-year-old, family says CAPTION: The family of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was reported dead while aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Saturday, says they will remember her as a happy, bubbly, straight-A student with a bright future ahead. Anna, who was set to graduate from high school in May, was traveling aboard the ship on a route from Miami to the Caribbean when she died. Details surrounding her death have not been released. The ship returned to Miami on Saturday, where the FBI has since opened an investigation into her death. Credit: Kepner family© Kepner family

The grandmother of an 18-year-old woman found dead on a Carnival cruise has opened up about the teenager’s last words just after her tragic death was ruled a “homicide.”

Teary-eyed, Anna Kepner’s grandmother, Barbara, told Good Morning America that, “She just said, ‘Meemaw, I think I’m gonna go back to my room for a little bit, I don’t feel well.” That was the last she spoke to her granddaughter.

The next day, Kepner was found by cleaning staff hidden under a bed in her cabin, covered with blankets and life vests, during a Caribbean cruise with her mixed family. She was sharing the room with her 16-year-old stepbrother, who quickly became a suspect in the case.

Authorities recently revealed that Kepner’s cause of death was asphyxiation via bar hold – indicating she was suffocated by an arm pressed across her neck. She was declared dead on November 6.

On the evening she was killed, Kepner told her family she wasn’t feeling well and went back to her room by herself. Shortly afterward, surveillance footage captured her stepbrother and younger sibling entering the room.

The younger sibling then exited the room, leaving Kepner alone with her stepbrother. She was never captured on camera leaving the room again.

WARNING TAKEN FROM: https://abcnews.go.com/US/passenger-died-carnival-cruise-ship-identified-18-year/story?id=127365664 Passenger who died on Carnival cruise ship identified as 18-year-old, family says CAPTION: The family of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was reported dead while aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Saturday, says they will remember her as a happy, bubbly, straight-A student with a bright future ahead. Anna, who was set to graduate from high school in May, was traveling aboard the ship on a route from Miami to the Caribbean when she died. Details surrounding her death have not been released. The ship returned to Miami on Saturday, where the FBI has since opened an investigation into her death. Credit: Kepner family© Instagram

Kepner’s grandmother, Barbara, spoke to Good Morning America this week about the unimaginable tragedy, acknowledging that authorities have implicated her step-grandson in the young woman’s death.

“They were like brother and sister, he was a good student,” she shared. “He played soccer, and is a very quiet young man.” However, Barbara also mentioned that the unnamed young man “had demons in his past and was trying to deal with those.”

She disclosed that he broke down when questioned by investigators, adding, “I heard him say in his own words that he does not remember what happened. “During (his police interview), he was an emotional mess, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t believe what happened,” she continued.

However, Barbara noted that the stepbrother was the only person in the room with Kepner when she died, and “he was the only one seen coming and going. “I can’t accuse him because I don’t know what happened in that room, but the summation would be that he did something,” she said.

At her memorial service, Kepner’s ex-boyfriend, Josh Tew, made shocking claims against her stepbrother, alleging that he had attempted to force himself on her just months before her death.

The stepbrother was arrested shortly after Kepner’s death but was released soon after. Investigators continue to examine his potential involvement.