(NEW YORK) — Anna Kepner, a teenager who was found dead on a Carnival Horizon cruise ship this month, died by asphyxiation resulting from a bar hold — an arm across the neck — a source briefed on the investigation told ABC News on Friday.
Investigators also found two bruises on the side of her neck, the source said.
The FBI has continued to decline to comment, citing the ongoing investigation. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office declined to comment Friday.
According to the source, the preliminary information indicates there were no signs of sexual assault and there did not appear to be drugs or alcohol in Kepner’s system. Autopsy and toxicology reports that could confirm those details have not been completed.
The 18-year-old cheerleader from Titusville, Florida, was reported dead while aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Nov. 8.
Kepner was found dead under a bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests, according to a security source briefed on the investigation.
A court filing in an unrelated family court matter noted Kepner’s stepsibling could face charges.
The filing said the FBI is conducting an investigation “arising out of the sudden death of 18 year old Anna Kepner.”
Shauntel Hudson — Kepner’s stepmother, who was also on the cruise along with her children and Kepner’s father — requested a delay in her custody hearing because one of her minor children may face criminal charges, according to the filing.
(PHOENIX) — A Phoenix toddler remains missing, as the search to find her heads into the weekend, according to police.
The Phoenix Police Department is asking for help in locating 3-year-old Wednesday Guilford, who they say vanished Thursday with her mom, Kendal Guilford.
“Detectives are looking for 3yo Wednesday Guilford. She was last seen with her biological mother 32yo Kendal Guilford near 44th St. and Baseline Rd. walking a black French Bulldog,” the Phoenix Police Department posted on X late Thursday night.
Phoenix Police Department’s Sergeant Brian Bower told ABC News that Guilford’s family reached out for help locating her on Wednesday, and the case is civil, not criminal.
“This case does not involve any criminal nature and there is no custody documentation. Because there is no formal court paperwork for custody, and mom does not have a place to live, family members are worried for Wednesday’s welfare. This is more of a civil issue with detectives concerned for Wednesday’s welfare,” he said.
Bower said that Kendal Guilford is alleged to be homeless and use drugs.
“Mom is known to be homeless. She stays at friends’ houses, here and there. Dad was staying with the kid. Dad invited mom back over. Mom’s known to use drugs, so Dad’s like, ‘Hey, if you want to come over!’ Dad leaves the house for a little bit — when he gets back with other family members, the mom is gone with the daughter,” he said.
Bower added that Kendal Guilford is “not going to get arrested” if police find her and her daughter.
Wednesday Guilford is described as 3 feet tall and 40 pounds with brown eyes and brunette hair, according to local affiliate KNXV. The outlet noted that she was last seen wearing a pink dress with floral print and black flats.
Kendal Guilford is said to be 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 200 pounds with blue eyes and orange-blond hair, KNXV reported. She was last seen wearing a grey sweat suit and glasses with clear frames, according to the Arizona station.
Anyone with information regarding Wednesday Guilford can call the Phoenix Police Department Missing Persons Unit at (602) 534-2121.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois
(CHICAGO) — A man accused of pouring gasoline on a woman and setting her on fire on a Chicago L train in an unprovoked attack will remain in custody, a judge ruled on Friday, saying he poses a danger to the community.
The suspect — Lawrence Reed, 50, of Chicago — faces a federal terrorism charge for what prosecutors called a “horrific and gruesome attack” that left the victim with severe burns.
During a detention hearing on Friday, Reed declined legal counsel and decided to represent himself, telling the judge he would also like to be detained for his safety, Chicago ABC station WLS reported.
The attack occurred Monday night near the Clark and Lake station on a Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line train and was captured on CTA security video, authorities said.
Authorities said Reed was also captured on surveillance footage filling up a bottle at a gas station pump 20 minutes before allegedly pouring the liquid on the victim and then, after she fought him off and ran away, lighting her on fire. Prosecutors said the security footage clearly captures the suspect’s face.
The victim, a 26-year-old woman, had been sitting on the train looking at her phone with her back to the suspect when she was randomly attacked, prosecutors said.
She was transported to a local hospital in critical condition with severe burns. She remains hospitalized with critical injuries, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Reed was arrested the following day and charged with committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system. He has not yet entered a plea, online court records show.
Prosecutors had asked the court to detain the suspect pending trial, arguing in a motion ahead of Friday’s court hearing that he “presents a clear danger and persistent threat of terror to the community” based on the circumstances of the crime and his criminal history.
“The state court system has been unable to contain defendant’s violent crimes, and federal intervention is now needed,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros wrote in the government’s detention motion.
Reed has been arrested by Chicago police at least 72 times over the past 30 years, with at least 15 of the arrests since 2016, according to the filing.
He has approximately 15 convictions, including for criminal damage to government property, drug possession and an arson incident in 2020 in which he lit a government building in downtown Chicago on fire, according to the filing.
At the time of Monday’s attack, Reed was facing aggravated battery charges in the Circuit Court of Cook County for striking someone in the head at a hospital in Berwyn, Illinois, three months ago, according to the filing. A judge ordered him released from custody on electronic monitoring “over the objection of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office,” and another judge later removed the condition of electronic monitoring, according to Boutros. He was ordered to follow a curfew that would not have allowed him out of his residence at the time the train attack occurred, Boutros said.
“Defendant has been leniently treated in state court, including receiving probationary sentences for violent offenses and pre-trial release for a victim-involved crime,” Boutros wrote. “In exchange for such lenient treatment, defendant has consistently re-offended and delved further into criminality.”
Boutros also argued Reed’s behavior during his initial court appearance on Wednesday — in which he “disrupted the proceedings by singing, babbling, and instructing the Court to not speak to him” — shows that he is also “unable or unwilling to cooperate at this stage in the proceedings.”
Based on his conduct during the hearing, the judge recommended Reed undergo a psychological evaluation, according to court records.
Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla.) — A sheriff’s deputy has died and another was injured on Friday after a suspect opened fire when officials were attempting to serve an eviction notice in Indian River County, Florida, according to the local sheriff.
“What an awful day, six days before Thanksgiving,” Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said during a press conference on Friday.
The two deputies, as well as a locksmith, were shot while serving an eviction notice to Michael Halberstam at a home in Vero Beach at the request of his mother, the owner of the house, Flowers said.
“This was a standard call for service. This is the everyday call, the eviction. Regular duties that our deputies bravely do,” Flowers said.
While the deputies were in the entryway of the home, Halberstam retrieved a weapon and began “indiscriminately firing.” Deputies then fired at the suspect, striking him multiple times, officials said.
Halberstam, who has previous narcotics and misdemeanor assault charges, remains in critical condition in the hospital, officials said.
Officials said they have also discovered “strange posts” on the suspect’s social media, including “negative items” about the sheriff’s office. It remains unclear why Halberstam’s mother decided to evict him, Flowers said.
Deputy Terri Mashkow, 47, was killed in the shooting, officials confirmed, saying she “gave her life to this community.”
“She had a beautiful heart, she will be missed,” Flowers said, while holding back tears.
The second deputy was shot in the shoulder and is recovering, said Flowers, who spoke to him at the hospital.
Officials will remain at the scene of the shooting for “quite some time,” Flowers said.
Florida Gov. DeSantis also confirmed the shooting earlier on Friday.
“There is a lot going on. Just know Florida Department of Law Enforcement is engaged, working with the sheriff and the local community. We will hope for the best results of that,” DeSantis said during an unrelated press conference on Friday.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also confirmed the shooting during an unrelated press conference on Friday. Uthmeier did not provide any further details on the incident, but held a moment of silence.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
John Bolton speaks during the 2025 Texas Tribune Festival on November 13, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Government lawyers at a hearing Friday in John Bolton’s classified documents case raised the possibility that more charges could be coming for the former Trump national security adviser.
Bolton was back in court Friday one month after pleading not guilty to all 18 counts of an indictment charging him with unlawful retention and dissemination of national defense information.
When U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang pressed Justice Department attorneys on their proposed seven-month timeline for the case, a government attorney said the agency is going through the process of reviewing all the documents seized at Bolton’s residence “not only for the government to consider potential other charges, but for [Bolton’s lawyer] to be able to present a defense which may be based on the documents that are still being processed.”
Chuang pushed back on the government’s proposed timeline and said the government should be ready to go to trial within 70 days of last month’s indictment.
“Frankly, most of this probably should have been done before the indictment,” Judge Chuang said.
“You should already know what the documents are,” the judge told prosecutors. “The only question is whether they should be produced and when. So I guess I’m not sure why we need seven months for that.”
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said his client fully agrees that the issues in the case “outweigh any normal right he would have to a speedy trial.”
Bolton, who became a critic of President Donald Trump after his time in the first Trump administration, is charged with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information amid what critics call Trump’s campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.
Vice President JD Vance has said any such prosecutions are “driven by law and not by politics.”
Seven of the transmissions referenced in the indictment allegedly occurred during the time when Bolton was serving at Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, while another document was allegedly sent by Bolton just days after Trump removed him from the administration in September 2019.
After a lengthy discussion Friday on the number of documents needed to be processed and the issue of classified information, Judge Chuang set a Jan. 12 deadline for the parties to submit a joint status report on the remaining document review.
The judge also set a deadline of Feb. 13 for Bolton’s lawyers to file any pretrial motions.
Bolton has been a target of Trump’s ire since leaving Trump’s first administration and publishing a tell-all book.
Federal agents in August searched Bolton’s Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office related to allegations that Bolton possessed classified information.
Stock image of police lights. Douglas Sacha/Getty Images
(INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla.) — At least three deputies were shot Friday morning in Indian River County, Florida, according to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis said officials are monitoring the incident.
“There is a lot going on. Just know Florida Department of Law Enforcement is engaged, working with the sheriff and the local community. We will hope for the best results of that,” DeSantis said during an unrelated press conference on Friday.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also confirmed the shooting during an unrelated press conference on Friday. Uthmeier did not provide any further details on the incident, but held a moment of silence.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant 21-year-old, was shot and killed by an Ohio police officer after she was accused of shoplifting. Walton + Brown, LLP.
(BLENDON TOWNSHIP, Ohio) — A jury found an Ohio police officer not guilty of murder on Friday in the 2023 shooting death of a 21-year-old pregnant Black woman who was suspected of shoplifting.
Connor Grubb of the Blendon Township Police Department was cleared of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault in Ta’Kiya Young’s death.
Body camera footage showed Grubb shooting Young on Aug. 24, 2023 while she drove her vehicle in Grubb’s direction after she allegedly stole liquor from a Kroger grocery store.
Young was seven months pregnant at the time of the incident in the store parking lot in Blendon Township, Ohio, her grandmother told ABC News in a 2023 interview. Her unborn child also died.
During closing arguments on Wednesday, Erin Claypool of the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said that Grubb knew his actions would cause Young to suffer serious physical harm.
Claypool said that the Blendon Township Police Department has guidelines that instruct officers to take reasonable steps to move out of the path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging their firearm at the vehicle.
Mark Collins, Grubb’s defense attorney, began his closing argument by stating that Young’s death was extremely tragic and sad, but it was up to the jury to put emotions aside and only address the facts.
“When you walk out of this courtroom to go to the jury room, the law and justice demands to be set aside that sympathy, no matter how difficult that is,” Collins said.
Grubb’s defense has asserted that Young’s car carried deadly force when she drove towards the officer, making his use of force “objectively reasonable.”
Collins claimed in his closing argument that the prosecution’s case was weak, and reliant on the testimony of two paid expert witnesses.
“Their basic case, ladies and gentlemen, is to take a video showing life saving measures, take a photo of an unborn fetus, wrap that together with two professional second guessers,” Collins said.
The prosecution noted in rebuttal that Erick Moynihan, the officer who was with Grubb during the incident, said during his trial testimony that he was not expecting for Grubb to fire his weapon.
“Sergeant Moynihan told us that he himself did not perceive Ms. Young to be a threat at all,” the prosecution said. “He didn’t even have his weapon drawn. He stated that it surprised him when he heard the sound of a gunshot. He said, ‘I wasn’t expecting that.'”
The prosecutor said during rebuttal that Grubb had “motivation” to convince the jury he was in fear of his life because then he would allegedly not be accountable for the death of Young and her unborn child.
“How many of us are really surprised that in his (Grubb’s) written statement, he writes that he fired his weapon because he believed that he was in imminent danger of death?” the prosecution said. “What would you expect him to say after he shot and killed someone and terminated their pregnancy?”
At the defense’s request, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Young dismissed two counts of felonious assault and two counts of felony murder on Young’s unborn child on Tuesday. The judge said there was no evidence that Grubb knew Ta’Kiya Young was pregnant at the time of the shooting.
Grubb said in a statement read by the prosecution during the trial that he pointed his gun at Young after she failed to comply with his partner’s commands to get out of the vehicle. He said he felt the car strike his legs and start to lift his body off the ground.
Body camera video shows Young refusing to leave the car despite orders from officers after she was suspected of stealing alcohol from the Kroger store. Grubb’s partner was on the driver’s side while Grubb stood directly in front of the vehicle.
According to attorneys during the trial, her car was parked in a disabled parking space with no disability placard on her vehicle. License plates for the car were not visible.
Young can be heard protesting with the officers in body camera video during the encounter. The officers can be heard yelling at her to get out of the vehicle. She asked them, “Are you going to shoot me?”
The video shows Young turned the steering wheel to the right and rolled forward in an apparent attempt to drive away, Grubb was already standing in front of the vehicle before the car started moving and fired a single fatal shot into her chest through her windshield after the vehicle moved.
Young’s vehicle came to a stop against a building shortly after, as seen on the body camera video. Police said they attempted to give her life saving aid. Young and her unborn daughter were later pronounced dead at a hospital.
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
