The teen stepbrother charged in the sexual assault and murder of Anna Kepner will remain free for now and is allowed to live in a house with two other kids, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Miami federal Judge Edwin Torres said Timothy Hudson — the baby-faced 16-year-old accused killer — could stay out of jail at least until the judge consulted with jail officials about housing him at a facility near his family.
“If it were a 20-year-old under the exact circumstances, I probably would have detained,” Torres explained, according to a report by NBC News. “The presumption would be we were just not going to take that chance.”
“This is a different animal.”
Torres said he’d speak with US Marshals about potentially turning Hudson over to a Hernando County lock-up near his family, rather than keeping him hundreds of miles south in Miami-Dade County where Hudson will face trial.
The judge said he wants to “know what my options are.” Torres didn’t say when he’d issue his final ruling.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Alejandra López called for Hudson’s bail to be revoked especially because he’s living under the supervision of his paternal uncle in a home with two minors.
“I believe there is clear and convincing evidence that this defendant is a danger to the community,” the prosecutor said.
Hudson’s defense attorney, Evan Kuhl, countered that Hudson had followed the terms of his supervised release since his February arrest, so there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t continue to abide by the conditions of his bond.
The teenager won’t be able to leave his uncle’s home without being accompanied by the uncle or his aunt and he will continue to be electronically monitored with a GPS tracker — the same terms Torres set in February in the juvenile case.
Hudson looked concerned and kept his hands in his pockets as he walked into court Wednesday morning — the first time has been publicly seen in the stunning murder case.
Hudson was initially charged in February as a juvenile in the case accusing him of killing the bubbly, 18-year-old cheerleader while they were on a six-day excursion on a Carnival Cruise ship with their family.
But prosecutors later secured an indictment charging him as an adult of first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison if convicted at trial in September.
He allegedly sexually assaulted Kepner before fatally strangling her. Hudson then wrapped her body in a blanket and and stashed it under the bed of the cabin they were sharing on the ship.
Hudson was reportedly “obsessed” with his stepsister and had once previously tried to sexually assault her.
With Post wires
