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Late last year, teen Anna Kepner was brutally murdered while on a Carnival Cruise with her family.
Her younger stepbrother was soon identified as a suspect and then arrested.
Until now, he had been allowed pretrial release, as he was being charged as a juvenile.
He is now being charged as an adult for this heinous crime. The judge has revoked his release, ordering him to surrender to authorities.
She died by homicide last November
On November 2 of 2025, 18-year-old Anna took a fateful family trip aboard the Carnival Cruise Line’s Horizon.
She was with her father, Christopher Kepner, his new wife, Shauntel Hudson, and Shauntel’s son, 16-year-old Timothy Hudson. Also in the group were two half-siblings and a younger step-sister.
Anna was last seen alive on the night of November 6.
The next morning, she was found dead under her bed, wrapped in a blanket and “hidden” with life vests.
The FBI investigated. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office determined that her cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation — an arm placed across her throat. Per the ruling, the manner of death was homicide.
Initially, Hudson was arrested and charged as a juvenile for the murder of his stepsister.
He appeared before a federal magistrate in February 2026, and was represented by a public defender.
In April, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse.
He will be tried as an adult.
Previously, the court had allowed him a pre-trial release, staying with a relative. That has now changed.
Timothy Hudson will be tried as an adult
On Monday, June 15, Hudson surrendered to US Marshals at the direction of Judge Edwin Torres.
The judge had reviewed existing evidence in the case.
People reported that the judge found that the prosecution’s “case for a forcible rape is beyond clear and convincing.”
The judge noted that the evidence “suggests a level of psychopathy and lack of remorse that by itself raises a serious concern that [Hudson] can snap at any time, despite the well-meaning and serious efforts of his caretakers to make sure that does not happen.”
Hudson is of course, legally speaking, innocent until proven guilty. But judges can and must weigh evidence to balance this legal principle against other factors, such as likely danger to the community and risk of flight.
Federal statutes are absolutely right to emphasize rehabilitation over pretrial detention for minors.
(Frankly, that should be the case for adults, too. Prison doesn’t make anyone better, and neither does jail. Whenever possible, it’s better to find an alternative.)
There are, however, exceptions. Whether it’s fascists and collaborators in a few years as we retake our federal government, or someone who has shown a propensity for remorseless violence on a smaller scale, some people need to be behind bars as a matter of public good and personal safety.
It’s likely that Judge Torres did not make this ruling lightly.
If anything, this ruling is a preview of the level and severity of the physical evidence that investigators have recovered and processed. Hudson’s defense will have their work cut out for them when the trial begins.