Anna Kepner’s accused killer free on bond after hearing

MIAMI (TCN) -- The 16-year-old boy charged with sexually assaulting and killing his stepsister on a cruise ship will stay out of jail following a hearing. 

In November 2025, 18-year-old Anna Kepner was traveling with her family on a Carnival cruise ship and was sharing a stateroom with her stepbrother, Timothy Hudson. She was found dead under the bed in the stateroom and surveillance footage did not show anyone else exiting or entering the room.

Her cause of death was determined by the medical examiner to be manual strangulation. Hudson was charged as a juvenile in connection with her death on Feb. 2 and the case was sealed until it was transferred for adult prosecution by a judge. The Department of Justice announced the indictment of Hudson by a federal grand jury on April 13. 

At Hudson’s May 27 court appearance, the judge was expected to decide if Hudson, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, would remain free or be jailed while awaiting trial, WESH reports. U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres did not make a decision at the hearing about where to detain Hudson. After he was charged as a minor, Hudson was able to live with relatives and be monitored electronically, but once the case was transferred to adult court, prosecutors requested he be jailed while awaiting trial.

According to NBC Miami, prosecutors are arguing that now that he is being charged as an adult, Hudson is a flight risk because he faces life in prison if convicted. At the May 27 hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Lopez said Hudson is a danger to the community if he remains free. The judge acknowledged that an adult being charged with murder and aggravated sexual assault would likely remain behind bars until trial but that he needed to consider Hudson’s age when making a decision.

Kepner was Christian and was baptized in May 2025, a few months before her death. She was planning to join the U.S. Navy after graduating from high school and wanted to become a K-9 police officer, according to the New York Post.

WOFL reports Hudson’s trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8.

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