18-Year-Old Found Dead on Cruise Ship: FBI Charges, Hudson Detained

Anna Kepner, an 18-year-old high school senior from Titusville, Florida, was found dead in a cabin aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on November 7, 2025, and her death has been ruled a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation. Her 16-year-old stepbrother, Timothy Hudson, has been indicted as an adult on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. He has pleaded not guilty, is being held in federal custody, and is scheduled to stand trial beginning September 1, 2026. The Anna Kepner cruise ship death case is being prosecuted federally because she died in international waters aboard a U.S.-departing vessel.

What Happened Aboard the Carnival Horizon

Kepner was on an eight-day Southern Caribbean voyage out of Miami with her father, stepmother, brother, stepbrother, and other minor children. On the evening of November 6, 2025, Hudson entered cabin 8343 at 7:35 p.m., and Kepner followed at 7:38 p.m., according to unsealed court documents. Kepner’s brother stopped by the cabin at 7:51 p.m. and saw her alive. He was the last person other than Hudson to report seeing her.¹

Shortly after midnight on November 7, the brother returned. Hudson blocked the door and kept him waiting in the hallway for roughly two minutes before letting him in.¹²

Cause of Death and Forensic Evidence

The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office issued Kepner’s death certificate on November 24, 2025. It listed the cause as “mechanical asphyxia” and specified that she “was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s).” The manner of death was ruled homicide.³ Family members said the FBI told them Kepner appeared to have been killed by a “bar hold,” a chokehold using an arm pressed across the neck.⁴ The examiner documented extensive bruising on her neck and ear and petechiae in her eyes and face.⁵ Preliminary toxicology showed no drugs or alcohol in her system.⁶ According to a prosecutor at a later hearing, mechanical asphyxia of this kind takes an estimated three to five minutes.⁷

Two categories of physical evidence drove the case. Prosecutors alleged Hudson destroyed Kepner’s cell phone and threw it away.¹ Investigators recovered the damaged phone and used ship Wi-Fi records to trace it, showing the device had moved along the same route Hudson took the morning her body was found.⁸

FBI laboratory analysis of DNA samples collected during the autopsy produced what analysts described as “very strong support” for Hudson being the source. One sample recovered from Kepner’s body was 120 sextillion times more likely to belong to Hudson than to an unknown individual; a second was 1.2 septillion times more likely.⁵ Another teenage male who had consensual sexual contact with Kepner during the cruise was excluded as a contributor. Court filings also stated that Kepner’s underwear was “twisted and positioned on her genitals in a way that indicated she was sexually assaulted.”⁹ Hudson’s defense has noted that no DNA belonging to him was recovered from Kepner’s neck, despite the chokehold being cited as the cause of death.

Why the FBI Has Jurisdiction

Kepner was a U.S. citizen who died on a vessel sailing in international waters after departing from a U.S. port, which places the case under the Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 7.¹⁰ That statute gives the federal government criminal jurisdiction over offenses committed on the high seas and on vessels departing from or arriving at U.S. ports when the victim or perpetrator is an American national.¹¹ FBI agents from the Miami field office boarded the Carnival Horizon when it returned to PortMiami on November 8, 2025.¹² Their investigation drew on ship surveillance video, electronic key-card swipe data for cabin 8343, cell phone records, and interviews with passengers, crew, and family. Carnival Cruise Line said it was cooperating fully and that investigators had determined there was no ongoing threat to other passengers.¹³

Charges Against Timothy Hudson

Timothy Hudson became Kepner’s stepbrother when his mother, Shauntel Hudson, married Anna’s father, Christopher Kepner.¹⁴ He was 16 at the time of the death. He was arrested on February 3, 2026, and initially arraigned as a juvenile on charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse.¹⁵ At his first appearance he invoked his right to remain silent, and a judge barred investigators from questioning him.¹⁶

A federal grand jury indicted him on the same two charges on March 10, 2026.¹⁴ The indictment alleged the murder occurred during the “perpetration” of an aggravated sexual abuse involving penetration “by the use of force.”¹⁷ The charges were then refiled to prosecute Hudson as an adult, and the adult indictment was unsealed on April 10, 2026. Prosecutors have disclosed that their evidence includes a written statement by Hudson and DNA recovered from the crime scene. If convicted on both counts, he faces the possibility of two life sentences.

From Pretrial Release to Federal Custody

When Hudson first appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in early February 2026, the government’s attempt to hold him as a juvenile failed under the federal Juvenile Detention Act, and he was released to a family member without bail.¹⁸ Kepner’s parents publicly said they were frustrated that “the person responsible is able to walk freely.”¹⁵ Anna’s father and Hudson’s mother reportedly cut all ties with him, and he was sent to live with a maternal uncle.¹

After the adult indictment, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida moved to revoke his release. On June 15, 2026, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres ordered Hudson taken into custody, finding “by clear and convincing evidence, that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of the community going forward.”¹⁹ Judge Torres wrote that the prosecution’s “case for a forcible rape is beyond clear and convincing” and that the evidence “suggests a level of psychopathy and lack of remorse that by itself raises a serious concern that [Hudson] can snap at any time.”¹⁸ The judge also ordered Hudson to undergo a mental health evaluation while in custody. Hudson surrendered to U.S. Marshals and was transferred to the Citrus County Jail, with an expected move to the Miami-Dade County Metro-West Detention Center.

What Comes Next

Hudson has entered a plea of not guilty. His murder trial is scheduled to begin September 1, 2026, at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Courthouse in Miami, with a plea-agreement deadline of August 28, 2026.¹⁹ He is represented by Federal Public Defender Evan Kuhl; Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Lopez is prosecuting.⁷

Who Anna Kepner Was

Anna Marie Kepner was a senior at Temple Christian School in Titusville, on track to graduate in 2026, and a member of the varsity cheerleading team.²⁰ Her family described her as a straight-A student.²¹ A lifelong gymnast who also worked as a youth instructor, she had earned a PADI diving certification and a boater’s license before her driver’s license. She planned to enlist in the U.S. Navy after graduation and hoped one day to become a K9 police officer.²² Known to friends as “Anna Banana,” she was remembered by her school as a “bright, kind-hearted young woman whose presence brought warmth and energy into the classroom.” A celebration of life was held on November 20, 2025, at The Grove Church in Titusville.

1
People. New Details About Anna Kepner’s Cruise Ship Death Revealed in Unsealed Court Documents
2
ABC News. Teen Found Dead on Carnival Cruise Died of Asphyxiation
3
Florida Today. Anna Kepner’s Death Ruled Homicide by Medical Examiner
4
ABC 7 New York. Anna Kepner’s Death on Cruise Ship Ruled Homicide
5
LA Mag. Teen’s DNA Found in Slain Stepsister’s Rape Kit, Unsealed Court Docs Claim
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WWNY TV. Death of High School Cheerleader on Carnival Cruise Ship Ruled Homicide
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Spectrum News 13. Teen Accused of Killing Stepsister on Carnival Cruise Taken Into Custody Following Adult Charges
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Fox News. Anna Kepner Damaged Cellphone Becomes Key Clue in Cruise Ship Murder Case
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WFLA. New Documents Reveal Details in Anna Kepner’s Rape, Murder on Carnival Cruise Ship
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. § 7 – Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction
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FBI. FBI’s Role in Addressing Criminal Threats to Americans Traveling Outside U.S. Territorial Waters
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NBC Miami. Teen Found Asphyxiated Under Bed on Cruise Ship Was Sharing Room With Stepbrother
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CBS News. FBI Probing Stepsibling in Carnival Cruise Ship Death of Florida Teen Anna Kepner
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New York Post. Anna Kepner’s Recovered Cell Phone Led to Stepbrother Timothy Hudson’s Murder Charge
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ABC News. Stepbrother Arrested, Charged After Teen Girl’s Death on Carnival Cruise
16
People. Anna Kepner Case: Why Investigators Cannot Question Stepbrother
17
People. Anna Kepner Endured ‘Serious Violative Crimes,’ Prosecutors Say as Stepbrother Charged
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People. Anna Kepner Stepbrother Ordered Into Custody Until Murder Trial
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Florida Today. Slain Titusville Teen’s Stepbrother Ordered Taken Into Federal Custody
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Florida Today. Who Was Anna Kepner, Florida Teen on Cruise With Stepbrother Before Death
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ABC News. Anna Kepner, Teen Who Died on Carnival Cruise, Honored at Funeral
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Fox 35 Orlando. Who Is Anna Kepner, Florida Teen Found Dead Onboard Carnival Cruise Ship