A Damaged Phone Led to Murder Charges in Cruise Ship Case

When a crew member found a smashed phone in a trash can aboard the Carnival Horizon in Miami, Florida, they had no idea they’d uncovered the linchpin in a murder investigation. That device belonged to Anna Kepner, an 18-year-old who was sexually assaulted and killed on the cruise ship in 2025, and its discovery would ultimately lead to the arrest of her stepbrother, Timothy Hudson.

FBI Agent Andrew del Valle’s courtroom testimony revealed how forensic work on that damaged phone cracked the case wide open. Though Hudson, then 16, had attempted to destroy and dispose of the device, investigators were able to download critical information from it—enough to track precisely when and how the phone moved from Kepner’s cabin, where she was attacked, to the garbage bin in the hours following the assault. The data told a damning timeline.

What made the evidence even more compelling was the surveillance footage. Del Valle described how agents reviewed ship camera feeds connected to four routers, which captured Hudson in all four locations where the phone appeared at different moments. Security video showed Hudson spending 22 seconds near the trash bin where the crew member had found the device. It’s the kind of detail that turns a suspicious story into an airtight case.

Hudson was arrested in February and initially arraigned as a minor on federal charges of murder and aggravated sexual abuse. After a grand jury indictment, prosecutors refiled to try him as an adult—a decision that changed everything about his legal future. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

The case underscores how even a destroyed phone can hold answers. In an age when every device is a potential witness, the digital breadcrumbs left behind often tell the story no one can delete.