Anna Kepner’s Stepbrother Absent from Court as Legal Team Submits Not Guilty Plea

The 16-year-old stepbrother implicated in the tragic death of Florida cheerleader Anna Kepner on a cruise ship will not be present for his scheduled court appearance this Wednesday. As prosecutors intensify their efforts to secure his imprisonment, Timothy Hudson has opted to waive his attendance at the arraignment in Miami’s federal court.

Instead, his legal team will enter a not guilty plea on his behalf, according to a report by Fox 35 Orlando. This move allows the legal proceedings to continue without his physical presence.

The teenager faces serious federal charges as an adult, including aggravated sexual abuse and first-degree murder, related to Kepner’s death in November 2025. Her lifeless body was discovered in a cabin on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship.

Authorities assert that Hudson was the sole individual with Kepner, aged 18, at the time she succumbed to manual asphyxiation.

Initially charged as a minor, Hudson was released under strict conditions. He is in the care of an uncle and must adhere to a no-contact order with minors and submit to GPS tracking.

But since the case was transferred to adult court, prosecutors are asking for Hudson to be held in custody pending his trial – arguing in court documents that he is a danger to himself and others.

‘The evidence demonstrated the offense conduct the Defendant engaged in involves the most serious, egregious and violative crimes one person can inflict upon another,’ prosecutors argued, according to Florida Today. 

‘He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling.’ 

Timothy Hudson, 16, waived his appearance at his arraignment on Wednesday, when his defense team is expected to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf 

Hudson is accused of raping and killing his stepsister, Anna Kepner, 18, onboard a Carnival cruise to the Caribbean on November 7 

Prosecutors also argued that he ‘carried out these crimes without any warning he could commit such atrocious acts and despite an apparent supportive family environment.’

They also noted that Hudson is currently living in a home where minor children reside.

But Hudson’s defense attorneys said in their own motion on Monday that their client has not violated the terms of his release order.

They argued that prosecutors were only seeking to detain him ‘because the government believes that it can prove by clear and convincing evidence that Hudson is a danger to the community despite his compliance with the release order and the availability of additional restraints on his liberty.’

The defense has also filed a motion seeking any pretrial detention hearings to be heard by the judge who allowed Hudson to remain free even after the case was transferred on April 10 to adult status. 

If he were to be convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse, Hudson could now face decades behind bars – although mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012.

Prosecutors noted Hudson was being raised to view Kepner as a sister as they argued for him to be restrained ahead of his trial 

Anna, of Titusville, Florida, was pronounced dead at 11.17am on November 7 while the 133,000-ton Carnival Horizon was en route from Mexico to Florida. 

The Daily Mail was the first outlet to report that her body was found stuffed under a bed in the cabin she was sharing with her stepbrother and 14-year-old half-brother.

She had been wrapped in a blanket and covered with life preservers, according to our sources.

Anna had gone to bed early the night before, telling her family during dinner that she was feeling unwell.

While her half-brother wandered around the ship taking photos, she was left alone with her stepbrother who takes medication for ADHD and insomnia.

When the younger boy returned, he didn’t see Anna but assumed she was staying up late with her father, Christopher, her stepmother Shauntel, or their grandparents Jeffrey and Barbara Kepner.

He climbed into his bunk and went to sleep – unaware, sources say, that his sister’s body was hidden just feet away.

It wasn’t until the next morning when the two boys headed to breakfast that the family realized Anna was missing.

The high school senior was on vacation with her father, stepmother, half brother, and step brother Timothy (pictured) at the time of her death 

At that point, a medical emergency was announced over the ship’s public address system, prompting Christopher, 41, to rush to her Deck 8 cabin, where a cleaning crew had just discovered the body.

A law enforcement source later told ABC that Anna died from asphyxiation caused by a bar hold, suggesting an arm was pressed across her neck.

FBI agents swarmed the ship, interviewed the family and scoured CCTV cameras when the Horizon returned to Miami on November 8.

Timothy insisted he could not remember what took place in the cabin, according to sources.

But the boy’s alleged involvement leaked out in court filings in a custody dispute between Shauntel and her ex-husband Thomas Hudson, 37.

They both referred to their son as a ‘suspect’ in court documents – with one filing describing bubbly Anna’s death as a ‘suspected murder’.

Thomas had sought emergency custody of their young daughter, claiming Shauntel took the kids on the ill-fated cruise without his permission – and even let the older children drink alcohol, an accusation she denied.

A Brevard County judge ruled that the girl was not in any danger and could remain with Shauntel and Christopher so long as Timothy was living elsewhere.

But in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Christopher said his family is outraged by the court’s decision to let Timothy Hudson live with a relative instead of being locked up ahead of his federal trial. 

Anna’s father Christopher was in court supporting the boy’s mother – Anna’s stepmom – Shauntel, at a hearing in Florida on December 5 

He also said the boy is yet to apologize or show any sign of remorse for killing bubbly 18-year-old Anna. 

‘We’re upset that he’s still out. We’re six months in and he should already have been arrested and yet he’s free to do whatever he wants right now,’ Christopher told the Daily Mail. 

‘That’s our problem. He’s been able to do whatever he wants and go where he wants but the family’s been sitting here unable to do anything. 

‘I want to see him in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. He does not need to be free. He does not need to be in the general public, around any kids or women in general.

‘He’s in a danger to himself and a danger to others.’