HAMPTON, Va. — Cory Bigsby, the Hampton father convicted of killing his 4-year-old son Codi and hiding the body, is set to face another trial in February for more than a dozen child neglect charges.
Facing 30 counts of child abuse and neglect, Bigsby is set to face a three day trial beginning Feb. 4, 2025, a Hampton Circuit Court judge ruled on Monday. The charges allege Bigsby left his children, including Codi, home alone, and stem from when Bigsby was first arrested after Codi's disappearance in 2022, but before he was indicted for murder.
In a motions hearing Monday, Bigsby's defense attorneys filed a motion to recuse the trial judge from the murder trial for the upcoming child neglect trial.
"We don't think the public thinks you can be fair," attorney Curtis Brown said.
Judge James Hawks denied the recusal motion, as well as denied a "Motion to Sever" which would have separated the 30 counts Bigsby is facing in separate matters as opposed to one trial for the entirety of the charges.
In this case, Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney Anton Bell said Bigsby faces a maximum sentence of up to 162 years for those crimes. Bell said he would be pursuing that maximum sentence.
When asked whether he thought Bigsby could receive an impartial jury based on the previous case's verdict, Brown said he was unsure.
“He already got 45 years and he's 45 years old, we don’t see the need of going any further, so I guess somebody is trying to prove a point," he said.
The trial is expected to last three days and is scheduled to begin just over three years after Bigsby reported his son missing. Bigsby is currently in prison, serving a 45-year sentence for murdering Codi and concealing his body. To this day, Codi's body has never been found.