Cruise ship murder trial postponed until January

A Titusville teenager accused of raping and murdering his stepsister on a cruise ship will not be put on trial this year.Anna Kepner, 18, was found dead on the Carnival Horizon in November as it was returning to Miami from a cruise in the Caribbean. Prosecutors said she had been sexually assaulted prior being asphyxiated.Kepner’s stepbrother, 16-year-old Timothy Hudson has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. Hudson, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, was scheduled to go on trial in November.This week, Hudson’s attorney filed a motion requesting that the trial be postponed.“(One) pending issue still needs to be addressed before a final decision can be made concerning whether (Hudson) should plead or proceed to trial,” Assistant Federal Public Defender Eric M. Cohen wrote. “That issue cannot be resolved prior to the present trial setting.”Cohen said prosecutors did not oppose the delay.U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom