Cody Pitts had a presence that took up an entire room. A former high school football player, the height of 26 years of age, 1.90 m and 110 kilos, impressed a lot, but it was his friendly and carefree behavior that earned him the nickname “Gentile Giant”.
“He was just a nice cool guy,” Cody’s brother, Chad Pitts, told Dateline. “He was the guy who would give the shirt back if someone needed it. He was always there for you. ”
After graduating from Hubbard High School, Cody joined the union where he worked in construction. Chad remembers his brother being a hard worker in everything he did, but also giving his family time.
Chad, who is 13 years older than Cody, lived just hours away in West Virginia when he received the call on March 7, 2015 that his brother had been murdered.
“I was told that my brother had died … murdered,” Chad said. “It didn’t make sense. He was left to die on the curb in the snow. ”
According to Hubbard Police, Cody was last seen around 2:35 am on March 7, 2015. He left the Downtown Café and Patio Bar on North Main Street, where he was hanging out with friends, and crossed North Main. Street walking along Orchard Street.
Chad told Dateline that his brother was walking to his friend’s house when he was shot.
Less than an hour later, Cody’s body was found by a passerby on Orchard Street. According to police, coroner Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, who died in 2018, said Cody died from a shot to the head and neck.
The homicide, which marked the first in Hubbard since the 1990s, the police said, came as a shock to the community with a population of about 7,500. As a close-knit community, Cody’s family believed that an arrest would happen immediately. But the days and weeks passed without any arrest.
While mourning the loss of Cody, his family received more tragic news. A month after Cody was killed, Cody and Chad’s mother, Vada Pitts, was diagnosed with cancer. Eight months later, during the week of what would be Cody’s 27th birthday, Vada lost the battle against the disease. She was only 56 years old.
“She had cancer, but she died of a broken heart,” said Chad. “My brother’s death really broke it.”
Chad told Dateline that his family made a promise to his mother that he would continue to look for answers about Cody’s murder and would not give up until he got justice.
“It felt like an open and closed case,” said Chad. “In our minds, there was no doubt who did it. And he is still out there. He could kill again. And this is scary. ”
Hubbard’s chief of police, Robert Thompson, and Detective Mike Banic did not tell Dateline whether or not they have a person of interest in the Cody case, but said they interrogated hundreds of people and investigated countless rumors and stories from that night.
Chief Thompson told Dateline that Cody’s case is not cold and is an open and active investigation. He points out that the case is the number one priority for the police department.
“It is our goal, our number one priority, to resolve this case and get the family and community closed,” said Chief Thompson. “We believe that someone knows something and we are encouraging him to introduce himself.”
Detective Banic, who was assigned to the case in 2018, said he is committed to the case.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about it,” said Banic. “And we won’t stop until we have the person responsible for Cody’s murder in handcuffs.”
One thing that keeps Cody’s story going after six years is the support of the Hubbard community. At night, the porch lights shine bright green in honor of Cody. Posters with Cody’s photo are spread along the highways inside and outside Hubbard. And every year, around March 7, their friends and family find a way to remember what they call the Gentle Giant.
In recent years, they have held golf tournaments in memory of Cody, who was an avid golfer. This year, meetings were restricted due to the pandemic, but the community paid tribute to Cody in other ways, including sharing memories on the Facebook page Justice 4 Cody Pitts, which was created to publicize and update the case.
Since this month marks six years since Cody was murdered, Chad repeats his promise to his mother several times.
“As an older brother, I was supposed to be the protector, but I was not able to protect him from that,” said Chad. “But I can continue to fight for him. And that is what I intend to do ”.
Anyone with information about Cody’s case should call Crime Stoppers of Youngstown, Ohio at 330-746-CLUE or Detective Mike Banic at 330-534-6286. A $ 25,000 reward is being offered by the family and Crime Stoppers for information leading to an arrest.