On Wednesday, May 27, a federal judge in Miami allowed Timothy Hudson16, who is accused He murdered and sexually assaulted his 18-year-old stepsister on a cruise ship to temporarily remain free. A judge is currently considering whether to place him in a juvenile prison.
Timothy was charged with homicide and sexual assault Anna Kepner According to Fox 35 Orlando, it happened in November 2025 while on a cruise. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
What’s next for Timothy Hudson?
In February, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres ruled that Timothy, who was arrested and charged as a juvenile, could live with his uncle in the Tampa area under electronic monitoring. However, prosecutors sought to keep Hudson in custody after a federal grand jury indicted him in March on murder and aggravated sexual abuse charges.
The judge ended the hearing without making a final decision. He said he wanted to discuss with the U.S. Marshals Service the logistics of detaining Timothy close to his family in central Florida, where Miami is the site of his trial.
Learn more | About Anna Kepner’s family: father, mother, stepmother and siblings
Federal prosecutor Alejandra Lopez urged Judge Edward Torres to detain Timothy, saying he “poses a danger to others and deserves pretrial detention” because he is no longer being prosecuted as a juvenile, the Miami Herald reported.
Timothy allegedly killed and raped Anna, whose body was discovered by cleaning crews under her cabin bed on the Carnival Horizon on November 7, 2025, the day before the cruise ship docked in the Port of Miami. Anna boarded the cruise ship with her father, stepmother and two step-siblings including Timothy. Anna’s cause of death was asphyxiation, according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Timothy’s trial is scheduled for early September after his lawyers asked for a three-month delay, citing the prosecution’s “substantial” evidence.
Anna’s father previously said in a statement that the family “has confidence that the justice system will pursue the truth with care and integrity.” “This is a very painful and complicated situation for the entire family,” Christopher Kepner said.
