TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Over two months after the body of 18-year-old Anna Kepner was found stuffed under a bed on a Carnival cruise ship, News 6 has confirmed that her stepbrother found himself in court.
The Daily Mail reported that the stepbrother — identified as 16-year-old Timothy Hudson — was seen arriving at Miami’s James Lawrence King Federal Justice Centre on Friday morning alongside his father, Thomas Hudson.
Your News 6 Community Correspondent James Sparvero traveled to Titusville to speak with Kepner’s biological father. He confirmed that Hudson had gone to court on Friday.
However, her father also described being “pissed off” that Timothy Hudson had been released back to the custody of the family he’d been staying with in Brooksville.
[BELOW: Records show step-sibling may be charged after Titusville 18-year-old found dead on cruise]
Kepner, a senior at Temple Christian School, was found dead on Nov. 7 aboard the cruise ship, records say.
According to records obtained by News 6 after Kepner’s death, she had been sharing a stateroom with her 14-year-old brother and Timothy Hudson.
Family members said a cabin steward ultimately found the teen’s body under a bed in her cabin. It was later revealed that she reportedly died of asphyxiation, though there was no indication of sexual assault.
Those records also revealed that Hudson was described by his parents as a “suspect” in Kepner’s death shortly after it was first reported.
However, his mother told her ex-husband that the 16-year-old kept repeating that he didn’t remember anything when asked, according to court documents obtained by News 6.
[BELOW: Text messages reveal family discussions after teen’s death aboard Carnival cruise ship]
Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, explained that the three teens had voluntarily chosen to share a room rather than join their grandparents in a different room a few decks above.
“They wanted to stay together,” Shauntel Hudson testified back in December. “The three of them, like the Three Amigos, are best friends.”
Shauntel Hudson said she last saw the three teens as she headed to bed around 7:30 p.m. the night before Anna Kepner’s body was found.
[WATCH BELOW: Stepbrother ‘suspect’ hospitalized after Anna Kepner’s death on cruise ship]
At this time, investigators have not confirmed the details that Timothy Hudson is a suspect in Kepner’s death. So far, no one has been arrested in the case.
In court papers obtained by News 6 that were filed last week as part of an unrelated family law case, one of Kepner’s former relatives indicated the teen’s death remains under investigation.