HAMPTON, Va. — Jury selection for the trial of the Hampton man accused of murdering his son, 4-year-old Codi Bigsby, continued Tuesday.
Codi's disappearance was reported by his father, Cory Bigsby, on Jan. 31, 2022, from the family's apartment in the 100 block of Ranalet Drive, which is in the Buckroe Beach area of the city. Since then, search teams and community members have banded together at different times to search for the child, but he has never been found.
Bigsby is charged with murder and the concealment of a body, for which he is standing trial March 4-8. The fact that Codi's body has ever been found will play an important role in the trial's proceedings.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 1st day of Bigsby murder trial reveals Codi's mother, 7-year-old brother will testify
The prosecuting attorneys for the case are Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Dylan Arnold. On the defense representing Bigsby are Curtis Brown, Amina Mathey-Willard, and Kenneth Singleton.
13News Now's Angelique Arintok and Dan Kennedy will be reporting live from the trial each day this week. Stay with us for the latest updates.
6 p.m. — Bigsby stays silent exiting Hampton courthouse
Cory Bigsby would not comment to reporters while walking out of Hampton Circuit Court on Tuesday, following day two of the murder trial for his 4-year-old son, Codi.
5:45 p.m. — Jury nearly seated, will wrap up Wednesday morning
A second full day of jury selection has come to an end and it will pick up again, beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Progress is being made, however. From a pool of nearly 70 potential jurors, the attorneys and judge have whittled that number down to 26.
It was previously said in court that they needed a group of 24 to select the jury from, but that was changed to 26 on Tuesday afternoon.
When proceedings wrapped up Tuesday, Judge James Hawks instructed the remaining 26 potential jurors not to research this case, watch any news, or talk about it with anyone.
The ultimate goal is to filter the group down to 12 jurors and two alternates. That will be the first objective on Wednesday morning, with opening statements to follow shortly afterward.
4:45 p.m. — Potential juror calls Bigsby case a 'hot mess'
Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell said in court Tuesday that an FBI agent will be asked to take the stand, while the defense plans to call one of Bigsby's family members to testify.
The new information came out during the questioning of potential jurors.
In court, one of those potential jurors described the circumstances of this case as a "hot mess," due to the multiple perspectives and concerns at play.
At one point during Tuesday's proceedings, one of Bigsby's attorneys, Curtis Brown, asked Judge James Hawks to recuse himself from the case. Brown accused the judge of siding with the prosecution too often in requests whether to keep or release a potential juror.
Judge Hawks denied the defense's motion right away.
1:00 p.m. — Opening statements not likely Tuesday, as jury selection ongoing
At the time court adjourned for lunch, 22 potential jurors had been selected and two more are needed. Once those two are chosen, a jury will be seated and opening statements will begin.
11:40 a.m. — Jury selection progressing slowly
13News Now's Angelique Arintok reports that attorneys continue to question the first batch of potential jurors. The next batch should be called in after lunchtime.
Judging by how slowly things are progressing, jury selection could last all of the second day of trial. That means opening statements may not begin until Wednesday.
9:15 a.m. — First day of Bigsby trial sees two mistrial motions denied
Court officials spent the day questioning potential jurors, as the trial for Cory Bigsby began in Hampton Monday.
Nearly 70 people reported for jury duty concerning this case. They were split into two groups of 34, and questioning of the first batch will pick back up on Tuesday morning. The second batch should return Tuesday afternoon.
By the end of the first day of trial, 11 members were selected for the smaller pool of 24 needed for attorneys to select from. They need to select 12 jurors and two alternates for the jury.
During jury selection, prosecutors said the Commonwealth plans to allege that Cory Bigsby beat his son, Codi, in his head until he died and then discarded his body. The proceedings also revealed that Codi's mother is set to be the first witness to testify. Cory's other son, who was 5 years old at the time of the alleged murder, is also expected to testify.
Also on Monday, Bigsby‘s attorneys submitted two motions for mistrial based on various information gleaned about potential jurors. Judge James Hawks denied Brown’s motion.
9 a.m. — A look at the road to trial for Cory Bigsby
Codi Bigsby's murder trial comes a little over two years since he was first reported missing in January 2022.
Hampton police investigators labeled his father, Cory Bigsby, as a "person of interest," shortly after he reported Codi missing.
On February 3, 2022, detectives arrested him on charges of child neglect unrelated to Codi's disappearance. Police said Bigsby admitted to leaving his children home alone multiple times. Mark Talbot, Hampton's police chief at the time, said Bigsby was voluntarily at police headquarters speaking with investigators after filing the missing person report for Codi when he made those admissions.
That was a claim Bigsby's then-attorney Jeff Ambrose denied in an interview with 13News Now.
An internal audit by Hampton Police Division leadership found that Bigsby indicated he wanted a lawyer when detectives were questioning him about the situation involving his son, but that request wasn't honored.
After that, Bigsby was behind bars for months and underwent mental evaluations by a judge's order. He was denied bond several times.
Then in June 2023, a grand jury returned two counts against Bigsby; one for murder and one for concealing a body.
After those two indictments, a judge granted Bigsby an $80,000 bond. It's a ruling which was recently upheld by an appeals court panel.
In November, several correctional officers testified that Bigsby made several possible confessions while at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. The statements were graphic and disturbing. Although the statements were inconsistent and contradictory, all versions ended with Codi's death or killing.
One of Bigsby's current attorneys, Amina Matheny-Willard, said jail staff tormented her client and coerced the admission. However, a judge decided he would allow prosecutors to use the jailhouse statements in trial.
Bigsby is accused of killing Codi and concealing his body roughly seven months before filing the missing person report to Hampton Police Division, according to court documents.
The trial will also begin just several days before the passage of the Codi Alert bill in Virginia's General Assembly. The legislation now heads to the governor's desk.