Prosecutors say the 16-year-old is accused of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse aboard the Carnival Horizon.
MIAMI, FL — Federal prosecutors charged a 16-year-old Florida boy as an adult Monday in the killing of his 18-year-old stepsister, Anna Kepner, saying the attack happened aboard a Carnival cruise ship in international waters as it headed back to Miami in November.
The case has drawn national attention because of the ages of the people involved, the setting aboard a cruise ship and the unusual path into federal court. Prosecutors say the Titusville teen, identified in court records as T.H. and named by some news outlets as Timothy Hudson, now faces first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse charges. The Justice Department said the death happened on or about Nov. 6-7, 2025, while the Carnival Horizon was returning to South Florida. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
According to the Justice Department and unsealed court filings, the family was traveling together on the Horizon when Anna Kepner was killed in a cabin she shared with other teens. Her body was later found concealed under a bed before the ship returned to Florida. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide caused by mechanical asphyxiation, meaning pressure or force kept her from breathing. U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement that the charges involve “serious offenses” alleged to have happened aboard a vessel in international waters. That location matters because crimes at sea can fall under federal jurisdiction even when the people involved are from Florida and the ship is sailing toward PortMiami.
The charging timeline shows how the case moved from sealed juvenile proceedings to adult court. Prosecutors first filed the case as a juvenile matter on Feb. 2, and the proceedings stayed out of public view because the accused was 16. The federal grand jury later returned an indictment on March 10, and U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom transferred the case for adult prosecution. The broader allegations did not become public until the seal was lifted days later. Associated Press reporting said the teen pleaded not guilty when he first appeared in court in February. He had been allowed to live with an uncle under electronic monitoring while the juvenile case remained sealed, an arrangement prosecutors are now challenging after the adult charges were announced.
Officials have released only a limited set of facts about what they believe happened inside the cabin, and many key details remain unknown. Court records cited by prosecutors say the killing and sexual assault happened while the ship was in international waters on the final stretch of the trip. Investigators have not publicly described the exact sequence of events, whether anyone heard a struggle, or what specific forensic evidence ties the accused to the charges. The FBI’s Miami field office is leading the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra L. López is handling the prosecution. The Justice Department has stressed that an indictment is an allegation, not a conviction, and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Anna Kepner’s death also stunned Titusville, where she was known as a senior at Temple Christian School, a cheerleader and a teenager with plans for the future. Friends and relatives have remembered her as energetic, bright and deeply loved. At her memorial service after her death in November, family members asked mourners to wear bright colors instead of black, saying it fit her personality. Those details have become part of the public portrait of a teenager whose life ended just months before graduation. The family trip that should have ended in South Florida instead turned into a homicide investigation spanning a cruise line, federal agents, medical examiners and a court fight over whether a juvenile defendant should be treated as an adult.
The legal posture of the case is now likely to shape the next phase as much as the facts of the death itself. Federal prosecutors on Monday asked the court to revisit the earlier release order and argued that the defendant should be detained pending trial. In a filing described by the Associated Press, prosecutors said the allegations showed dangerousness and pointed to the lack of any known history of conflict between the accused and Kepner, who had been raised in the same family. Defense lawyers had not publicly responded by Monday to messages seeking comment on the new charges. Because the alleged crimes took place in international waters and involve a minor charged as an adult, the case stands out even within federal court, where juvenile defendants are only rarely prosecuted in this way.
The setting aboard the Carnival Horizon adds another layer to the case. Cruise ships operate as tightly managed spaces with passenger logs, room access records, security systems and crews trained to respond when emergencies happen before a ship reaches port. Yet investigators have not publicly said what shipboard evidence they collected, whether surveillance footage captured movement near the cabin, or when other family members last saw Kepner alive. What is known is that her body was found before the voyage ended and that the ship was headed back to Miami when the alleged crimes occurred. Carnival has not been accused of wrongdoing in the charging documents, and the case so far has centered on the defendant, the family cabin and the federal investigation that followed.
Christopher Kepner, Anna’s father, said in a statement that the family is placing its “trust in the justice system to pursue the truth with care and integrity.” He also said the family was troubled that, despite the seriousness of the charges, the teen had not been taken back into custody as of Monday. That tension has become one of the most closely watched parts of the case: not only whether prosecutors can prove murder and sexual abuse charges in court, but whether the accused will remain free while the case moves ahead. For now, the federal indictment has shifted the case into a new stage, with adult prosecution, possible renewed detention and a sharper public focus on what happened aboard the ship.
The case stood Monday with adult charges filed, prosecutors seeking tougher pretrial conditions and investigators still withholding many details. The next milestone is the court’s response to the government’s detention request and the scheduling of the next federal hearing in Miami.
Author note: Last updated April 13, 2026.