Judge again rejects Cory Bigsby’s request for bond pending trial

A Hampton judge on Monday denied bond to the father of a missing 4-year-old Hampton boy — the third time judges have rejected the father’s request for release.

Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Robert B. Wilson V ruled there’s no basis to step in on a Hampton Circuit Court judge’s April 5 ruling that Cory Jamar Bigsby be held without bond on child neglect charges unrelated to the boy’s disappearance.

“There’s been no change in circumstances,” Wilson said. “Therefore I don’t have the authority to change the bond.”

On Jan. 31, Bigsby reported his son, Codi, missing from the family’s Buckroe Beach home. He said he last saw Codi asleep in his bed at about 2 a.m., but that the boy was gone when he woke up later that morning. Hampton police have been openly skeptical of that account, and have asked for the public’s help in pinpointing when Codi was last seen.

After more than three days at Hampton police headquarters, Bigsby, 44, was charged on Feb. 4 with seven counts of felony child neglect. He’s accused of leaving his four children — ages 2 through 5 — unattended on various occasions and has remained in jail since he was charged.

The latest request for bond reconsideration comes after Bigsby hired a new attorney, Amina Matheny-Willard.

At a hearing in the juvenile court on Monday, Matheny-Willard contended the courts are violating Bigsby’s constitutional rights by jailing him without bond. She noted that under the Eighth Amendment to the Bill of Rights, “excessive bail” is prohibited.

She presented as a witness a man who runs a home electronic monitoring service who testified he’s ready to provide the service.

Matheny-Willard also asserted that Hampton police and prosecutors overcharged Bigsby. The facts of the case, she said, warranted misdemeanor charges at most or a referral to Child Protective Services.

“The only evidence is that he left the kids home alone,” she said. That’s common conduct, she said, and doesn’t rise to felony child neglect — an act so “gross and wanton” that it “shows reckless disregard for human life.”

Bigsby watched the proceedings on a video monitor from the Hampton Roads Regional Jail that froze up several times.

A Hampton magistrate denied Bigsby bond immediately after his Feb. 4 arrest. The matter was fully considered at a bond hearing five days later, when Wilson denied Bigsby’s request for the first time.

Bigsby’s then-attorney Jeffrey Ambrose appealed to Hampton Circuit Court. But at a second bond hearing on April 5, Judge William R. “Richard” Savage III again rejected the request, saying there’s “probable cause to believe that the defendant is a flight risk.”

At the time, Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell called Bigsby the “chief suspect” in Codi’s disappearance and said the father could “cover up evidence” if he’s released.

Bigsby faces up to 35 years if convicted on the child neglect charges. But Matheny-Willard told Wilson that based on Bigsby’s lack of a criminal record and other factors, discretionary state sentencing guidelines would call for him to get only between one day and six months to serve.

He’s already spent nearly four months in jail, and Matheny-Willard said it’s “extremely difficult to prepare my case for trial while he’s in custody.”

In their prior rulings to deny bond, both Wilson and Savage cited as worrisome a 2017 AWOL conviction during Bigsby’s time in the U.S. Army. Prosecutors said he was supposed to be at his Army duty station in Germany but flew to New Jersey without permission. The judges also considered two domestic assault and battery charges on which Bigsby was not convicted.

When Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Pamela Jones brought up the AWOL conviction Monday, Matheny-Willard objected, calling that a “workplace issue” — akin to failing to show up for work at a fast food job — and that it’s unconstitutional to hold Bigsby “to a different standard.”

But Jones said the AWOL conviction was already put into evidence at past bond hearings, and that it’s a valid concern to raise.

“They have not met the initial burden that shows there has been some material change in circumstances” to change the bond, Jones said.

Monday’s hearing drew about 15 courtroom spectators concerned with Codi Bigsby’s disappearance and focused on keeping up efforts to find the missing boy. Many wore purple shirts that said, “We are Codi’s Voice,” and “Bring Codi Home” buttons. Several said they still regularly search for Codi.

“I’m not for Cory, I’m not for the family — I’m for Codi,” said Annette Williams, 62, of Norfolk. “For finding Codi. Doing whatever it takes to keep his name out there and his name alive.”

While some members of the public who attended the hearing said were happy Bigsby wasn’t released, Charese Howard, 58, of Hampton said she doesn’t want to take sides.

“I just want the child found,” Howard said. “It hurts to know this child, this 4-year-old, hasn’t been found.”

One of Cory Bigsby’s cousins, who said he “grew up with him as brothers,” said he was “100%” sure he had nothing to do with his son’s disappearance. The man, who wished to remain anonymous and declined to give his name, thanked the community for looking for the boy.

Bigsby’s probable cause hearing is scheduled for June 15.

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com