DOJ charges teen stepbrother in Carnival Cruise death, sexual abuse case

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The U.S. Department of Justice announced April 13 that it has brought murder and sexual abuse charges against Timothy Hudson in connection with the death of his stepsister, Anna Kepner, aboard a Carnival Cruise ship. The announcement follows a court process that began with the teen’s death at sea and moved through sealed juvenile proceedings before becoming public in federal court filings.

According to the investigation timeline, Kepner, a 2025 high school cheerleader from Titusville, Florida, died on Nov. 6, 2025, from mechanical asphyxia aboard the Carnival Horizon while the ship was in international waters. Her family was on the cruise.

The timeline describes how Kepner’s body was discovered shortly after her death. On Nov. 7-8, 2025, a housekeeper found Kepner’s body concealed under a bed in the cabin she had shared with two other teens, including Hudson.

The case drew widespread attention in mid-November, when the death and the investigation became linked to speculation after a court filing in a dissolution of marriage matter involving Hudson’s mother said the FBI was investigating and that a minor child may be implicated. In that context, a later development described as coming from court documents identified Hudson as a suspect, but only as “T.H.” in the filings, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 20, 2025.

Hudson was then charged in federal court in early February. On Feb. 2, 2026, prosecutors charged him as a juvenile with murder and sexual abuse, and the court file was sealed because of his age. The next day, Feb. 3, Hudson was arrested and entered a not guilty plea, with the hearing closed to the public.

The timeline says that on Feb. 6, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres allowed Hudson to remain free pending trial but required he live with an uncle and be electronically monitored. It also says that on Feb. 24, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra L. Lopez requested that Hudson be prosecuted as an adult, and Hudson’s defense attorneys did not object.

Federal prosecutors later sought additional charging steps. On March 10, they filed a superseding indictment but asked that the case file remain sealed, the timeline says. Then, on April 10, the entire court file was unsealed.

As part of the shift from sealed proceedings to public allegations, the DOJ announced April 13 that murder and sexual abuse charges had been brought against Hudson in connection with Kepner’s death.