(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 stepbrot

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