Prosecutors still struggling to explain why Anna Kepner’s 16-year-old stepbrother allegedly abused and murdered her in a cruise ship cabin say he acted ‘without any warning'.

Anna’s dad and stepmom have faced a barrage of criticism for allowing the 18-year-old cheerleader to share a room with two teenage boys aboard the Carnival Horizon.

But in a new court filing obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, government lawyers say there was no reason to believe Timothy Hudson was a violent predator prior to the November 7 killing.

‘The conduct the defendant engaged in involved the most serious, egregious, and violative crimes one person can inflict upon another,’ the filing says. 

‘He committed these crimes against a victim with whom he had no apparent relational strife, and whom he was being raised to view as a sibling. 

‘Furthermore, he carried out these crimes without any warning he could commit such atrocious acts, and despite an apparent supportive family environment.‘

The government’s position mirrors previous family court testimony which heard that Anna, her 14-year-old half-brother and Timothy were all close friends – and referred to as ‘the three amigos’. 

Family sources have told the Daily Mail they are still searching for answers as to why Timothy allegedly attacked Anna of Titusville, Florida. 

They are similarly shocked that the scrawny youngster managed to overpower his older step-sibling, a talented high school gymnast. 

Timothy was indicted by a grand jury in February on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse but the charges remained under seal because he was a juvenile. 

The case was finally made public this week after a federal court judge ruled the baby-faced defendant should be tried as an adult and face the possibility of life imprisonment. 

He’s currently living in Central Florida with a relative, wearing a GPS anklet to monitor his location. 

Prosecutors, however, want the kid gloves treatment to end. 

‘The defendant currently lives in a home where minor children reside,’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandra Lopez wrote to the court following Monday's unsealing.

‘Consequently, there is no assurance any court could ever have that any conditions, or combination of conditions, would be sufficient to prevent the defendant from being a danger to others. 

‘Thus, the defendant should be detained.’ 

U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom is yet to rule on the motion to revoke Timothy’s release. 

But Anna’s distraught dad Christopher Kepner, 41, made his feelings known in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail. 

‘I want to see him in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs,’ he said. 

‘He does not need to be free. He does not need to be in the general public, around any kids or women in general.’ 

Timothy – whose mother, Shauntel Hudson, is Christopher’s wife and Anna’s stepmother – has denied the charges and invoked his right to remain silent, according to court filings. 

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

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

Anna was pronounced dead at 11:17am on November 7 while the Horizon was en route from Mexico to Florida. 

The Daily Mail was the first outlet to report that her body was found stuffed under a bed in the cabin she was sharing with the two boys. 

She had been wrapped in a blanket and covered with life preservers, according to sources. 

Anna had gone to bed early the night before, telling her family during dinner that her braces were hurting. 

While her half-brother wandered the ship taking photos, she was left alone with her stepbrother who takes medication for ADHD and insomnia. 

When the younger boy returned, he did not see Anna but assumed she was staying up late with Christopher, Shauntel, or his grandparents Jeffrey and Barbara Kepner.

He climbed into his bunk and went to sleep – unaware, sources say, that his sister’s body was hidden just feet away beneath her unoccupied bed. 

It was not until the next morning, when the two boys headed to breakfast, that the family realized Anna was missing. 

A medical emergency was announced over the ship’s public address system, prompting Christopher to rush to her Deck 8 cabin, where a cleaning crew had just discovered the body. 

A law enforcement source later told ABC that Anna died from asphyxiation caused by a bar hold, suggesting an arm was pressed across her neck. 

FBI agents swarmed the ship, interviewed the family and scoured CCTV cameras when the Horizon returned to Miami on November 8. 

Timothy insisted he could not remember what took place in the cabin. 

But the boy’s alleged involvement emerged in court filings in a custody dispute between Shauntel, 36, and her ex-husband Thomas Hudson, 37. 

They both referred to their son as a ‘suspect’ – with one document describing bubbly Anna’s death as a ‘suspected murder.’ 

Thomas had sought emergency custody of their young daughter, claiming Shauntel took the kids on the ill-fated cruise without his permission and even let the older children drink alcohol, an accusation she denied. 

A Brevard County judge ruled that the girl was not in any danger and could remain with Shauntel and Christopher so long as Timothy was living elsewhere. 

The couple had already removed him from their blended household in Titusville and placed him with a relative while the FBI investigation played out. 

His location was redacted in court documents but when the Daily Mail traced the skinny, blond-haired teen to a relative’s rural Florida home he would only say: ‘I’d rather not talk.’ 

High school senior Anna had chronicled her love of travel on TikTok and been on several cruises. 

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

She planned on joining the US Navy or becoming a K9 handler in the Titusville Police Department. 

Christopher and Shauntel are still together despite the extraordinary strain on their marriage. 

They released a joint statement to the Daily Mail after we revealed that Timothy had made a secret court appearance in early February. 

‘We believe in accountability and in the importance of justice being carried out,’ the couple said. 

‘Our daughter deserves justice, and her life deserves to be honored through a full and fair legal process.