Newly unsealed court records have revealed that FBI investigators sought DNA samples from another teenage boy aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship before ultimately arresting Anna Kepner’s stepbrother for her murder.
The disclosure came from a February federal court hearing transcript obtained by PEOPLE, offering new insight into the early stages of the investigation surrounding the death of the 18-year-old high school senior.
Anna Kepner was found dead aboard the Carnival Cruise Line ship after the vessel returned to Miami on Nov. 8, 2025. Federal investigators later accused her 16-year-old stepbrother, Timothy Hudson, of sexually assaulting and killing her during the Caribbean trip.
According to prosecutors, FBI agents boarded the ship immediately after it docked and quickly focused attention on Hudson after reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing passengers.
Investigators learned that Hudson and Anna had been sharing a cabin during the cruise. Surveillance footage reportedly showed both teenagers entering the room minutes apart on Nov. 6, 2025. Prosecutors allege Hudson repeatedly exited and reentered the cabin throughout the next several hours, while Anna was never seen alive again.
The following morning, a housekeeper discovered Anna’s body wrapped in a blanket and hidden beneath one of the beds inside the cabin.
Federal prosecutor Alejandra Lopez told the court that investigators performed a rape kit examination on Anna’s body before sending the evidence to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, for forensic testing.
As part of the investigation, agents requested DNA samples from Hudson and another unnamed teenage male passenger referred to in court documents as “Minor Witness 2.”
Laboratory testing later excluded the unidentified teen as a DNA contributor.
Prosecutors told the court the forensic results instead strongly linked Hudson to the evidence collected during the examination. According to testimony, investigators determined it was “1.2 septillion times more likely” that the DNA belonged to Anna and Hudson.
Hudson was arrested shortly after the FBI received the test results.
He was initially charged as a juvenile with murder and aggravated sexual abuse before a federal grand jury later approved adult charges against him.
Court documents accuse Hudson of carrying out a “willful, deliberate, malicious and premeditated killing” during the commission of aggravated sexual abuse.
If convicted on all charges, Hudson faces the possibility of two life sentences.
His trial is currently scheduled to begin in September.
