The teenage stepbrother accused in the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner aboard a Carnival cruise ship is scheduled to Miami Wednesday morning, as prosecutors push to have him behind bars before his trial.
Timothy Hudson is and aggravated sexual abuse after Kepner was found dead in November 2025 inside a Carnival cruise cabin that was traveling on the high seas toward Miami, according to federal court documents.
Prosecutors say Kepner was found in a cabin she shared with Hudson and another sibling. Hudson was 16 at the time of the alleged murder and is currently free under a prior release order.
-based criminal defense attorney Tim Jansen told Fox News Digital he found that the teen boy being released before the trial striking, given the severity of the charges.
“I don’t know how they got released into the custody of someone with these charges. I find that alarming,” Jansen said.
Federal prosecutors say Hudson was previously released to a family member while the case was still being handled under the Juvenile Delinquency Act. But after the case was transferred to adult prosecution and a federal returned a superseding indictment, the government asked the court to revisit that release decision.
In the filing, prosecutors argued that under adult bail standards, Hudson “is a danger to others and should be held in pretrial detention.”
On Wednesday, the court will weigh Hudson’s release under the federal Bail Reform Act, which judges use to determine whether a defendant should be detained, released or placed under bond conditions while awaiting trial.
Jansen said the allegations, if proven, would give prosecutors a compelling public-safety argument.
“He’s 16 years old, looking at the spending the rest of his life in prison,” Jansen said. “I would argue as a prosecutor, he is both a flight risk and a danger to the community. He’s already [allegedly] sexually assaulted and killed one person. He’s demonstrated his ability not to conform. And I believe the court will detain.”
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Prosecutors argued that the alleged crimes were among “the most serious, egregious, and violative crimes one person can inflict upon another” and said no combination of conditions could assure the court that Hudson would not be a danger to others. They also noted that he currently lives in a home where minors reside.
The governments motion says Hudson was not released on bond, but rather under a release order with conditions.
Defense counsel has not agreed to immediate detention. According to the filing, Hudson’s attorneys said the matter should be referred to the judge who handled the original release order, and that he should remain free pending a decision on release.
If the judge orders detention Wednesday, Jansen said Hudson could be taken into custody immediately.
“Immediately, will take him into custody, and then they will have to make arrangements to detain him separate from all the other adult inmates,” Jansen said.
Kepners parents have voiced their outrage that Hudson is back into the community â despite being .
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“Were upset that hes still out. Were six months in, and he should already have been arrested, and yet hes free to do whatever he wants right now,” Christopher Kepner told the Daily Mail. “Thats our problem. Hes been able to do whatever he wants and go where he wants, but the familys been sitting here unable to do anything.”
If convicted, the teen could
