HAMPTON, Va. — Four times Cory Bigsby has asked a judge to allow him to be released from jail on bond, and four times a judge has denied that request.
Bigsby, the father of missing 4-year-old boy Codi Bigsby, is charged with seven felony counts of child neglect, all unrelated to the boy's disappearance.
He reported his son missing on January 31. Police officers brought Bigsby into the station to ask him about Codi's disappearance and while they were talking, he allegedly told them he'd left his young children at home alone before.
That's what the child neglect charges stem from.
After being denied bond twice, he hired a new lawyer in April, attorney Amina Matheny-Willard. At the time, she filed a motion for a judge to reconsider Bigsby’s bond status.
On May 23, Judge Robert Wilson denied Bigsby’s third attempt at bond, saying Bigsby’s circumstances had not changed since a different judge denied him bond in April.
On Tuesday, Matheny-Willard argued for Bigsby to be given bond, saying he'd had ineffective assistance from prior counsel.
But Judge Wilson again denied the request.
“He has clearly been overcharged," said Matheny-Willard. "Felonies for leaving your kids home alone is outrageous.”
Matheny-Willard argued the charges against him.
“I have been doing this for 20 years, that is a referral to CPS," Matheny-Willard said. "You do not charge a class six felony for leaving each child home alone, that is egregious.”
Here's how his case has gone so far:
- Feb. 8: A judge denies Bigsby bond for the first time.
- Feb. 17: Bigsby's lawyer appeals the bond decision, but all three Hampton Circuit Court judges recuse themselves from the new hearing.
- April 5: A judge denies Bigsby bond for the second time.
- Late April: Bigsby switches lawyers.
- May 11: Matheny-Willard files a formal complaint against Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot for how the division has handled the investigation.
- May 15: Matheny-Willard appeals the latest bond decision.
- May 23: A judge denies Bigsby bond for the third time.
Bigsby is next scheduled for a preliminary court hearing on June 13.
"What the judge can do, and what I feel the judge should do at the preliminary hearing, at the very least, is reduce those charges to misdemeanors," Matheny-Willard said.
Codi Bigsby still hasn't been found. The Hampton Police Division is asking anyone whose seen Codi since December 2021 to call their non-emergency line at 757-727-6111.