Cory Bigsby was found guilty on Tuesday of killing his 4-year-old son, Codi Bigsby.
Bigsby was on trial for charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a body in connection to Codi's death. He was convicted on both charges.
This story was reported and written by our media partner WTKR
Bigsby still faces child abuse and neglect charges unrelated to Codi's disappearance.
The jury reached its verdict on the seventh day of the trial against Bigsby.
The guilty verdict comes over two years after Codi was reported missing by Bigsby on Jan. 31, 2022. To this day, Codi’s body hasn’t been found, but law enforcement believes he’s dead.
The prosecution argued that Bigsby had actually killed Codi on or around June 18, 2021 — about seven months before he called 911 to report him missing.
Bigsby did not take the stand during the trial.
The jurors heard testimony from a variety of witnesses throughout the trial, including Codi's relatives, corrections officers who interacted with Bigsby, and people who played a role in investigating Codi's disappearance.
The defense called Codi's paternal aunt to the stand, who claimed to have seen Codi after the timeframe police believe Cory killed his son.
Notable moments from testimonies are as follows:
Codi's older brother claimed their father would often punish Codi.
He also claimed there was an instance in which he couldn’t wake up his brother Codi. “His face was red, it was dry, and it was bruised,” the brother said.
The brother recalled the exchange he had with his father following the alleged incident: “I asked him what was wrong with Codi. He said nothing was wrong with him,” the brother said.
When the prosecution asked the boy if he believed his dad, he said: “No…because he [Codi] looked dead. ”
Codi's mother Dina Kareem also provided testimony. On the stand, Kareem claimed that she and Cory Bigsby, who share four kids, have not been in a relationship since 2019. After she was hospitalized in 2020, she left their children in the care of Bigsby, she claimed.
She claimed she had not spoken to Codi since April 2021 – about nine months before he was reported missing.
She claimed that in April 2021, she got an email from Bigsby that read, in part, "He's [Codi] still doing the same stuff... He needs to come back to you... I do not want to seriously hurt him to protect my babies." She did not believe the claims Bigsby was making in the email, she said.
- Cory Bigsby's sister, Tandaleyia Butler, testified that she saw her nephew Codi in September of 2021 at her home in D.C. — which would be after police believe Bigsby killed his son.
- Butler also said she has known Codi's mother, Dina Kareem, since childhood. The defense pointed out how Kareem had previously testified that she didn't know how to reach Cory Bigsby's family when she stated that he apparently would not return her calls or e-mails.
- Corrections officers from Hampton Roads Regional Jail - where Bigsby was in custody - testified about what Cory allegedly confessed while in jail.
- One corrections officer claimed Bigsby asked him to write stuff down for him, including the following: "I found my son unresponsive, tried CPR... [I] could not revive him... I put him in a trash bag, put him in the car, where he sat for three to five days... I buried him."
- The defense played the 911 call Bigsby made, reporting that his son was missing. That was on Jan. 31, 2022. News 3 reporter Angela Bohon was in the courtroom. She said Bigsby told the operator he looked everywhere for Codi. "I've checked the entire house," he told the dispatcher.
An NCIS agent, an FBI analyst, and a man who claimed to have seen Codi two days before he was reported missing were also among the witnesses called to the stand.
The case has garnered widespread attention in the community, prompting citizens to organize search parties, and later, create a sprawling memorial in his honor.
Codi’s disappearance also marked the start of a lengthy investigation: shortly after Codi was reported missing, the FBI joined Hampton police in the search.
Days after the search for Codi began, Bigsby was arrested and charged with child neglect from incidents unrelated to Codi’s disappearance. However, it wasn’t until June of 2023 that Bigsby was indicted on a murder charge in connection to Codi’s death.