Teen accused of stepsister’s cruise ship murder buys time to consider plea but won’t get ‘sweet’ deal: expert
The federal high-seas murder case against a teenager accused of sexually assaulting and strangling his own stepsister aboard a cruise ship has reached a pivotal juncture. Court filings reveal the defense has requested more time to consider reaching a plea deal.
Timothy Hudson, who was 16 at the time, is accused of the sexual assault and strangling death of Anna Kepner, 18, aboard the Carnival Horizon on Nov. 7, 2025. He is being charged as an adult in the federal case in Florida.
The plea deadline was originally Friday, Oct. 23 but that has now been extended to January to give the defense team more time. A judge granted this extension earlier this month.
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Read the motion here:
A federal grand jury indicted Hudson in April, to which he initially entered a not guilty plea. He is currently being held in a federal pre-trial detention center after a judge made an order in June remanding him to federal custody.
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He was previously in the custody of his family, with an ankle monitor.
With the new changes and extended plea deal deadline, it's possible that Hudson's defense team is trying to iron out a plea deal for the teenager.
"For a case like this, you’re talking about whether or not the defendant gets life or not," Anthony Strazza said.
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Strazza, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor who practices in federal and state courts, is not affiliated with the case.
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He said Hudson’s defense team could be negotiating a guilty plea in exchange for prosecutors not recommending life without parole.
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"There’s not going to be any sweet plea deal, regardless of whether or not they take a plea. The numbers [years in prison] are going to be large," Strazza said.
Because Hudson is so young, Strazza said even if he is found guilty and sentenced to decades behind bars – there is a possibility that Hudson could serve his time and get out of jail in his 30s.
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"You’re talking about a defendant who’s 16 years old, so there’s a huge difference between life and, let’s say, a 30-year sentence," Strazza said.
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Strazza said Hudson could be expected to serve "at least 85 percent" of any federal prison sentence.
"Even if he does get big numbers, 20, 30 years, he is still going to be relatively young when he completes that time."
Hudson's defense attorney, Eric Cohen, declined to comment on the case when reached by Fox News Digital.