Judge orders Timothy Hudson detained ahead of trial in Anna Kepner cruise ship death

A judge has ruled that Timothy Hudson, 16, the teenager charged with the murder and sexual assault of his stepsister Anna Kepner aboard a cruise ship, must remain in custody before and during his trial, which is scheduled for September. Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres issued the detention order on 10 June, finding that no conditions of release could adequately protect the public.

CBS News has been following the case and reported the ruling, noting that Hudson had previously been released into the custody of his maternal uncle following his initial arrest.

From juvenile release to adult detention

Hudson was first charged as a juvenile in February and released pending trial. After he was charged as an adult in April with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse, Torres ruled that juvenile detention provisions no longer applied to him.

"The Government has established, by clear and convincing evidence, that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community going forward," Torres wrote in his order.

Transfer to custody

Torres ordered Hudson to be handed over to the US Marshals Service on Monday morning and subsequently transferred first to Citrus County Jail, before being moved to the Miami-Dade County Metro West Detention Center by no later than 10 July. Hudson was confirmed to be in federal custody as of Monday night, according to a source familiar with the matter. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

What happened aboard the Horizon

Prosecutors allege that Hudson was travelling on Carnival Cruise Line's Horizon in November 2025 alongside Kepner, who was 18 at the time, and several other family members when she was killed. A medical examiner determined that Kepner had been sexually assaulted and asphyxiated, according to court records.

Court documents indicate that Hudson and Kepner were alone together in their shared cabin from approximately 7:51 p.m. to 11:21 p.m. on the night she died. Prosecutors allege that Kepner's Apple Watch, which monitored her heart rate, stopped recording during that window — a period they believe corresponds to when the alleged crime took place.

Judge's reasoning

Torres was unequivocal in his assessment of the threat posed by the charges. "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," he wrote. "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."

Torres was nonetheless careful to preserve the presumption of innocence. "This is not to convict the defendant in advance. The presumption of innocence remains fully intact," he noted.

Clean record not enough

Torres acknowledged that Hudson had no prior criminal history and had complied with the conditions of his earlier release, but found that insufficient grounds to justify continued freedom. "A clean history is reassuring only if it predicts future conduct, and an offense of this gravity allegedly committed without antecedent warning signs undermines the predictive comfort that a clean record usually provides," he wrote.

"Compliance with conditions for a period of months, while the most serious charges were pending and the defendant was on notice that his liberty depended on good behavior, is likewise of limited probative value as to how he would behave over the longer and more uncertain road to trial."

The presence of other minors in Hudson's household also weighed on the judge's decision. "The natural response, removing him from contact with vulnerable household members, points to detention, not a condition short of it," Torres wrote.