MIAMI, Fla. – A newly unsealed court transcript provides details leading up to and following the death of a Florida teen who was killed on a Carnival cruise last November.
Anna Kepner, 18, was killed by strangulation and was found the following morning stuffed underneath her bed in her cabin, hidden by a box of life vests, court documents say. Anna’s stepbrother, Timothy Hudson, 16, is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.
A judge allowed Timothy to be in the custody of his family, despite the argument from the prosecution that he should be detained before his September jury trial date. He pleaded guilty to all charges.
Timothy Hudson, 16, appears outside federal court in Miami on May 27, 2026.
What we know:
While presenting evidence against Timothy, an attorney for the United States Attorney’s office – Alejandra Lopez – presented a timeline of the events on the boat – using witness testimony and closed-circuit television footage.
The prosection detailed the events starting from Nov. 2 – the day the Hudson-Kepner family departed the Carnival Horizon on a one-week cruise – to Nov. 7, around 11:24 a.m., when ship staff found Anna’s body wrapped in a blanket and suffered under her bed.
Shortly after Anna’s body was found, CCTV footage shows Timothy go by the room, but make no effort to see what was happening inside with several people inside the cabin. “He looks straight ahead and walks away,” the transcript said.
Anna shared a room with Timothy and her 13-year-old half brother, Lopez said. Anna’s father, stepmother and stepsister shared a room across the hall, the transcript said.
In a transcript from a Feb. 6 detention hearing, Attorney Lopez provided a minute-by-minute breakdown of the hours before Anna’s death. After visiting Cozumel, the Hudson-Kepner family met for dinner, at which Anna left, saying she didn’t feel well and complained of a stomach ache and her braces hurting.
Anna Kepner,18, died on a Carnival Horizon cruise on Nov. 7. The FBI is conducting an investigation into her death.
Here’s the timeline of what happened after Anna left dinner.
What happened that night on the night of Nov. 6?
Timeline:
- At 7:35 p.m., Timothy entered the room. He was not seen leaving the room until nearly three hours later.
- At 7:38 p.m., Anna was seen on CCTV entering her cabin. This is the last time she was seen alive on footage. CCTV shows Anna never leaving the room after that.
- At 7:51 p.m., Anna’s 13-year-old brother entered the room and quickly left. He reported seeing Anna in the room at this time.
- At 10:13 p.m., Timothy was seen looking down the hallway, appearing to check if anyone was there, before walking out of the cabin.
- Between 10:23 and 10:49 p.m., Timothy was seen going in and out of the cabin two more times.
- From 11:21 p.m, Anna’s brother entered the cabin. At that time, he didn’t see his sister, he told the FBI later. He left the room at 11:23 p.m.
- At 11:31 p.m., Timothy entered the room, left and came back at 11:44 p.m.
Anna’s body was found around 11:24 a.m., the next day, as the ship was returning from Cozumel on international waters. Cruise line officials contacted the FBI, who met the ship at the Port of Miami on Nov. 8.
Anna Kepner case: Family messages after cruise death
Released text messages in a court case between Anna Kepner’s stepmom and her ex-husband show the family tried to prevent information from being released. The text messages discuss keeping things “hush, hush” and not wanting their son’s name released. Their son reportedly visited a hospital after the ship docked and “can’t remember anything,” the mom said.
Anna’s brother noted ‘weird’ instances
Anna’s 13-year-old brother told officials he went into the room for short periods after dinner that evening. However, on one occasion, at 12:09 a.m., Nov. 7, the brother said when he decided to return to the room to sleep, Timothy put out his arm to stop the boy from entering the room and yelled that he was changing. The boy noted it was “weird” that all the lights of the cabin were on, Lopez said.
Read more: Date set for stepbrother accused of killing Anna Kepner
The brother, Lopez said, sat out in the hallway until Timothy allowed him to enter the room.
Carnival Horizon is the second Vista-class ship from Carnival Cruise Line. The 133,500-gross-ton ship has a 3,960-passenger capacity, based on double occupancy. It sails out of PortMiami. (Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Gett
Where was Anna’s phone?
Authorities could not find Anna’s cellphone. Her family mentioned she was never without it.
Her phone was later found in the lost and found after a Horizon crew member found the phone in a trash can in the aft of the ship. It was seriously damaged, as if it had been smashed, Lopez described. The FBI began to investigate how Anna’s phone ended up in the trash can if she never left the room after 7:38 p.m.
Timothy was seen on CCTV leaving the room between 9:26 a.m., Nov. 7 and returning at 9:48 a.m. – before leaving again at 9:50 a.m. holding something in his left hand, the transcript said. He was seen walking toward the aft of the ship and reaching into the trash bin, around 9:52 a.m., where Anna’s phone was later found.
By tracking Anna’s phone, the movement matched where Timothy was walking that morning, court documents said. Timothy was seen smoking on Deck 11; Anna’s phone was on Deck 11, the prosecutor said.
Timothy’s phone was later obtained through a search warrant, which didn’t show any relationship between him and Anna, the transcript said.
A teen suspect in Anna Kepner’s death was in federal adult court with his attorney in Miami on Feb. 6, 2026.
Medical examiner determines cause of death
A medical examiner observed irregularities in Anna’s clothing that indicated a possible sexual assault.
According to the court transcript, Anna was fully clothed – wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants – but her underwear was bunched up, twisted and folded, the transcript said.
Additionally, Anna had tiny pinpoint red spots – caused by bleeding from small capillaries, the court document said – on her eyes and face. Anna also had significant bruising on her left ear and bruises on the side and back of her neck, the transcript said.
The spots and bruises were indicators that Anna was strangled – most likely from a chokehold, the document said. She also had sperm inside of her, which determined she was sexually assaulted before she died, the court document said.
The FBI obtained DNA from Timothy and a person she had sex with while on the cruise.
“Results from this item had very strong support for the inclusion of T as the contributor of the male DNA in the mixture,” the transcript said.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from a transcript from a February 6, 2026 detention hearing with the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida.
