Florida Teen Indicted as Adult in Stepsister's Cruise Murder

A federal grand jury in Miami indicted a 16-year-old Florida boy as an adult on Monday with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship last November.

The defendant, identified in court records as Timothy Hudson of Titusville, Florida, allegedly committed the acts against Anna Kepner while the Carnival Horizon was sailing in international waters en route to Miami on or about November 6, 2024. Kepner, a senior and varsity cheerleader at Temple Christian School in Titusville, about 40 miles east of Orlando, was traveling with her father, stepmother, and several siblings, including Hudson, on the family vacation.

Cleaning staff discovered Kepner's body around 11:15 a.m. on November 7, concealed under a bed in the cabin she shared with Hudson and another teen, wrapped in a blanket and covered with life jackets. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office ruled the cause of death as mechanical asphyxiation, specifically a "bar hold" involving an arm placed across the neck, with investigators noting two bruises on the side of her neck. The incident prompted an FBI investigation due to its occurrence in...