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Teen accused of killing stepsister on Carnival cruise ship ordered detained before murder trial
By Sarah Rumpf-Whitten
Published June 15, 2026
The teen stepbrother accused of killing 18-year-old Anna Kepner aboard a Carnival cruise ship has been ordered detained pending trial after a federal judge reversed course and found that no release conditions could reasonably protect the community.
Timothy Hudson, identified in federal filings as T.H. because he is a minor, had previously been allowed to remain out of jail in the custody of a family member under strict conditions. He was 16 when he allegedly killed Kepner.
But in a June 10 order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres granted the government’s motion to revoke that release after Hudson’s case was transferred from juvenile proceedings to adult prosecution. The judge said the legal landscape changed once Hudson was moved into adult court.
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Federal prosecutors submitted new evidence under seal in the case against Timothy Hudson, accused of sexually assaulting and killing his stepsister, 18-year-old Anna Kepner, onboard a Carnival Cruise ship. (Fox News Digital/Instagram)
Hudson is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the death of Kepner, who was found dead Nov. 7, 2025, inside the cabin she shared with Hudson aboard a Carnival cruise ship on the high seas bound for Miami. The court said the medical examiner concluded Kepner had been sexually assaulted and then asphyxiated.
The judge wrote that the ruling was based on danger, not flight risk, writing that the original release conditions were sufficient to assure Hudson’s appearance in court but not enough to assure public safety.
"The danger posed by the conduct charged here (the alleged first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse of a young woman and step-sister of the Defendant while they were in confined quarters of a ship at sea) is sufficient by itself to require detention," Torres wrote.
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Anna Kepner's 16-year-old stepbrother walks outside a Federal Court building in Miami, Florida, with his attorney on Feb. 6, 2026. He was charged in connection to the death of his stepsister on a Carnival Cruise in November 2025. (Fox News)
Hudson had no prior record, voluntarily surrendered and complied with his release conditions for months, the judge noted. But Torres said those facts did not outweigh the seriousness of the allegations.
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The court found that the alleged killing of a household member in a private living space was the kind of danger that home detention, curfews, location monitoring and third-party custody are "least able to address."
Anna Kepner is shown taking a picture inside a car. Her family said she had dreams of joining the military. (Instagram/Unknown)
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The judge also pointed to the approaching September trial date, saying there was concern Hudson could "make another very wrong decision the closer the trial gets." Torres ordered that Hudson receive mental health evaluation and treatment while in custody.
A sealed supplemental order, reviewed by Fox News Digital, directed that Hudson be delivered to the U.S. Marshals at 8 a.m. Monday in Tampa.
Torres ordered that Hudson be housed only with juveniles, have access to counsel and family communication, and receive continued visits from mental health professionals.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office and Hudson's attorneys for comment.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/teen-accused-killing-stepsister-carnival-cruise-ship-ordered-detained-murder-trial