Anna Kepner’s accused killer ordered into custody of US Marshals Service: Court documents

The Florida teen accused of attacking and killing his stepsister, Anna Kepner, aboard a family cruise vacation has had his release conditions revoked and has been ordered into custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, according to newly-unsealed court documents.

What happened to Anna Kepner?

The backstory:

Timothy Hudson, identified in court documents as T.H., has been charged with aggravated sexual abuse and first-degree murder in Kepner’s death aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship. She was found dead in November 2025 and hidden beneath a bed, buried in life vests, in one of the cruise ship’s cabins, court documents stated.

She died from asphyxiation, after she was assaulted, according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner, according to court documents.

After legal fight, judge orders 16-year-old suspect into custody

Federal prosecutors and Hudson’s defense team have argued in recent motions and court hearings about whether Hudson could remain out of custody pending trial. A judge granted his release when he was initially charged as a juvenile. However, once his case was transferred to adult court and his charges upgraded to adult charges, prosecutors asked that he be held.

Despite the severity of the charges, a federal judge released Hudson back to his family in May, under the condition that he wear an ankle monitor. The judge also ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to locate housing options for the teen closer to Hernando County, away from South Florida.

The other side:

The decision to let the accused teen remain free before trial has drawn sharp criticism from law enforcement experts.

“This is the pinnacle of an egregious, heinous, murderous act,” said Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI agent not affiliated with the case. “That ankle monitor isn’t keeping him anywhere.”

The judge delivered his order last week – June 10. However, those documents were not unsealed until Monday evening, June 15.

What did the judge say?

What they’re saying:

“The Court now finds that Defendant should be held going forward in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending his trial in the case. The Court rests that conclusion on dangerousness alone, as the Court finds that the original conditions of release adequately assure the Defendant’s appearance at trial,” the judge said in its reasoning.

The danger posed by the conduct charged here (the alleged first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse of a young woman and step-sister of the Defendant while they were in confined quarters of a ship at sea) is sufficient by itself to require detention. A now-decreed adult defendant charged on probable cause with deliberately taking a human life, and sexually assaulting his victim in the course of doing so, presents a danger to himself and to others that no curfew, monitor, or custodial placement can be trusted to contain.”

Is Timothy Hudson in custody?

According to the court documents:

• Hudson’s guardian was ordered to take him to the courthouse in Tampa on Monday morning, where he would be taken into custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
• Hudson would then be booked into the Citrus County Jail. It is unclear if that has happened yet. FOX 35 has reached out.
• By July 10, Hudson will need to be transferred to the Southern District of Florida, where he will be held in a juvenile detention facility in Miami-Dade County, records show.