A judge refused to take Anna Kepner’s teen stepbrother into custody today despite a court hearing how he raped and strangled her for up to five minutes during a Caribbean cruise.

A federal hearing in Miami Wednesday heard how the 16-year-old developed a warped ‘crush’ on Anna, 18, and brutally attacked her while they shared a cabin to save money.

‘We have evidence he was obsessed with his sister. He had a crush on her,’ prosecutor Alejandra Lopez told the court.

Bruising to Anna’s neck suggested Timothy squeezed his step-sibling’s throat for three to five minutes until her eardrum burst and was killed by mechanical asphyxiation.

‘He could have let go. He could have let her live. But he kept on squeezing,’ Lopez alleged.

Timothy stared ahead in silence as Wednesday’s hearing was convened to decide whether or not he should be in custody ahead of his September trial for first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse.

Judge Edwin Torres had previously allowed him to live with his uncle in central Florida, along with the uncle’s wife and minor-aged children, while wearing a GPS ankle monitor.

But Lopez explained that Timothy was still being treated as a minor when that decision was made under the Juvenile Delinquency Act in February.

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Sixteen-year-old suspect Timothy Hudson arrives at federal court in Miami Wednesday for a hearing to determine whether he should remain free ahead of his trial over the death of step-sister Anna Kepner

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Kepner, an 18-year-old high school senior, from Titusville, Florida, was on a six-day Carnival cruise to the Caribbean when she died on board between Mexico and Florida on November 7

‘The game has changed, your honor. He’s now being charged as an adult,’ she said, urging the judge to apply the much tougher Bail Reform Act.

Timothy – whose mom Shauntel Hudson is married to Anna’s dad Christopher Kepner – faces life in jail if convicted or between 24 and 34 years if he changes his plea to guilty.

Lopez told the court that Anna was sharing a room with Timothy and her 14-year-old half-brother when she was killed aboard the Carnival Horizon on November 7 last year.

‘In order to save money they put them in the same room,’ she said. The family considered them to be ‘two peas in a pod.’

Prosecutors say Anna and Timothy were alone in the cabin for three hours.

She used her phone for the last time at 8:14 pm to send a Snapchat message. At 9.52pm Timothy was seen emerging from the room to roam the ship, it’s alleged.

A minute later he was seen on CCTV depositing Anna’s phone into a trash can, the court heard.

At 10.13 PM Timothy was seen poking his head out of the cabin and looking up and down the corridor.

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Prosecutors were seeking to jail Timothy Hudson ahead of trial after he agreed to be prosecuted as an adult

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Hudson, seen going through security as he entered the courthouse Wednesday, was labeled a ‘danger to others’ by prosecutors

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The court heard horrific new details of Anna’s murder, such as how she was strangled for five minutes

When Anna’s half-brother returned to the room at 12.09am he found someone was blocking the door from inside, the court heard. Once inside the room he could not see any sign of Anna.

The court heard Anna’s body was found the next morning stuffed under her bed and wrapped in a blanket.

She had bruising to the back of her neck consistent with being violently pinned down and semen found inside her was matched to Timothy, it’s alleged.

He pinned the cheerleader down and violated her so forcefully that her underwear was later found pushed inside her body, the prosecutor said.

Timothy knew exactly what he was doing when he squeezed Anna’s neck long enough to kill her, Lopez told the court.

‘He had time to think and deliberate,’ she added. ‘He continued to kill her.’

The court heard that an ex-boyfriend of Anna had warned her dad that he once witnessed Timothy trying to get in bed with Anna.

But Lopez admitted that the government had no real idea what caused Timohty to suddenly attack.

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Anna’s father Christopher Kepner recalled the moment he pulled his daughter Anna’s lifeless body from under a cruise ship bed. The 18-year-old was found dead while on vacation with family including her father, stepmother and stepbrother, all pictured, last year

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Prosecutors allege Timothy Hudson ‘sexually assaulted and intentionally killed’ his stepsister (pictured together)

That made it all the more vital that he should be taken into custody before he ‘lashes out’ again, she said.

‘Her raped and murdered his stepsister. He’s proven he’s a danger. Protect the community. Detain this defendant,’ she urged Judge Torres.

Eric Cohen, Timothy’s public defender, agreed that Timothy and Anna likely had sex but said there wasn’t enough evidence to determine whether it was non-consensual.

He said there was no evidence that the boy’s semen ‘got there at the same time as the murder.’

Cohen said Timothy had complied with his release order and was in the care of responsible adults.

‘He doesn’t have a driving license. He doesn’t have a car. He doesn’t have the means to flee,’ Cohen said.

Juveniles cannot be locked up with adult inmates under federal law and cannot be held in conditions that resemble solitary confinement.

But a spot had been found for Timothy at a secure facility in Miami run by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the court heard.

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Timothy stared ahead in silence as Wednesday’s hearing was convened to decide whether or not he should be in custody ahead of his September trial

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Anna was killed aboard the Carnival Horizon, which has the capacity for almost 5,000 passengers

Timothy was to be locked up with other juveniles and would get access to proper meals and an education behind bars, Lopez said.

But Judge Torres said he wanted to know whether a facility can be found closer to Hernando County, where Timothy’s family will be able to visit him more easily.

He said he would wait until he had heard from the US Marshall Service before issuing a final decision on whether to lock Timothy up.

Until then he must stay at his uncle’s home under house arrest.

Anna’s death was investigated by the FBI because it happened in international waters, setting the stage for a rare instance of a child appearing in federal court on a murder charge.

Timothy was arrested and charged in February but the case remained under seal until he was arraigned last month as an adult.

He faces decades in prison if convicted, although mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012.

He cannot face the death penalty because he was a minor at the time of the alleged slaying.

Dad-of-three Christopher, 41, was alerted to the daughter’s death when a medical emergency was announced over the ship’s public address system.

He entered her Deck 8 cabin moments after a cleaning crew had discovered the body.

‘I checked her pulse. I pulled her out from under the bed. I knew my daughter was dead long before the medical examiner got there,’ the heartbroken dad previously told the Daily Mail.

Anna planned on entering the US Navy or becoming a K9 handler in the Titusville Police Department after graduating high school.

She had chronicled her love of travel on TikTok and been on several cruises.

‘Anna was pure energy: bubbly, funny, outgoing, and completely herself,’ relatives wrote in her obituary.