Judge Revokes Teen’s Release in Carnival Horizon Killing Case

Timothy Hudson, the 16-year-old identified in court filings by the initials T.H., was taken into U.S. Marshals custody in Tampa on Monday, June 15, after a federal judge revoked his pretrial release in the killing of his stepsister aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Horizon. Hudson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the November 2025 death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner while the ship was sailing toward Miami.

The detention order replaces a release arrangement that had allowed Hudson to live with an uncle under electronic monitoring. The change followed his April indictment as an adult, which moved the custody question from federal juvenile-release rules to the adult pretrial detention standard under the Bail Reform Act.

Judge revokes earlier release order

U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres had ruled in February that Hudson could remain with a family member while the case was proceeding as a juvenile matter. After the adult indictment, prosecutors sought detention, arguing that Hudson presented a danger to the community and that his potential punishment had changed substantially.

Torres agreed in an order filed the previous Wednesday and unsealed Monday. “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.

Prosecutors said Hudson now faces a possible life sentence if convicted as an adult; under the juvenile framework, he would have been released by age 21 regardless of the delinquency finding. Evan Kuhl of the Federal Public Defender’s office argued at the detention hearing that Hudson had complied with release conditions for months without incident. Hudson’s federal public defenders have declined to comment on the charges.

The Kepner family welcomed the custody decision in a statement Monday, thanking the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service. “It was painful for our family to know that he had been free for as long as he was,” the family said. “We are now at peace knowing that he will not be able to harm anyone else while awaiting trial.”

Case stems from death during family cruise

Kepner, a Florida high school senior, was traveling with her father, stepmother, grandparents, siblings and stepsiblings on Carnival Horizon. Prosecutors allege Hudson “sexually assaulted and intentionally killed” her aboard the ship. Officials determined that Kepner died from mechanical asphyxiation.

Court documents say Kepner had been sharing a stateroom with Hudson and a younger relative. Her body was later found concealed under a bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests, before the ship returned to PortMiami. The death was ruled a homicide.

Unsealed testimony has also put Kepner’s cellphone at issue in the case. Prosecutors said surveillance video and the ship’s Wi-Fi records showed the phone moving through areas that corresponded with Hudson’s route on the morning after Kepner was last seen, before a crew member recovered the damaged phone from a trash bin. Defense counsel challenged the strength of that inference during cross-examination, noting that the router data showed only a similar route.

Federal investigators also presented DNA evidence during earlier proceedings. According to court testimony, DNA collected in a rape kit was linked to Hudson, while investigators determined that DNA from another teenage passenger who had met Kepner during the cruise was not connected to the case.

Federal maritime jurisdiction shapes the prosecution

The case is proceeding in federal court because Kepner died in international waters, outside any state’s jurisdiction. Federal criminal law reaches the high seas through the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 7, which can apply to offenses including murder aboard vessels beyond state authority.

Hudson was initially handled under the federal juvenile delinquency framework before prosecutors obtained an adult indictment from a federal grand jury. Torres ruled that the adult transfer made the Bail Reform Act the governing standard for pretrial detention, while still requiring Hudson to be held in an approved juvenile facility.

The federal trial is set to begin Sept. 8. The detention order calls for Hudson to be housed initially at Citrus County Jail, which has approved juvenile facilities, and transferred by July 10 to the juvenile unit at Miami-Dade Metro-West Detention Center.

The order also directs that Hudson receive a mental-health evaluation, ongoing treatment while in custody and regular access to his attorneys and family members.