Cody Lillich
Investigative Producer
Phoenix
Cody Lillich joined Arizona's Family as an investigative producer in January 2022. Prior to Arizona, Cody was an investigative producer for WVUE-TV in New Orleans where he worked alongside the station's chief investigative reporter Lee Zurik. During his time in New Orleans, Cody was part of an investigative team honored with multiple regional Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Awards. The team's 'Inspecting the Inspectors' investigation looked into the missteps by city inspectors before the 2019 deadly collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel. The reports exposed that three city inspectors signed off on building inspections, while GPS coordinates on their city vehicles show they were never at the site on the dates in question.
Education
Updated: May. 24, 2022 at 2:12 PM CDT
|By Morgan Loew, Cody Lillich, Gilbert Zermeño and Gray News staff
Wolnik says one study from a title company estimated that 90 percent of deed fraud is carried out by family members or friends of the victim. The remaining 10 percent of cases involve criminals who target the victims.
Updated: Dec. 16, 2021 at 4:55 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
FOX 8 News has filed suit against Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn over the city’s delays in several public records requests submitted to the city dating back to October.
Updated: Dec. 15, 2021 at 10:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Residents of the fairgrounds neighborhood of New Orleans are calling for accountability after FOX 8′s Attention to the Details Investigation found possible neglect in patrols.
Updated: Dec. 13, 2021 at 5:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation into the New Orleans Police Department, sources say.
Updated: Dec. 10, 2021 at 4:55 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
A senior special agent for the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board has been suspended without pay after separate investigations by the Office of Inspector General and FOX 8 News questioned the employee’s use of the police detail program.
Updated: Nov. 23, 2021 at 10:29 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Nine months after an explosion of a tank battery in Southwest Louisiana that claimed the life of a fourteen-year-old girl, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources announced a new rule is now in effect that could prevent another tragedy.
Updated: Nov. 22, 2021 at 10:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
A New Orleans Police Department sergeant has been observed on surveillance camera at home while he was supposed to be on a detail assignment.
Updated: Nov. 19, 2021 at 5:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson indicated in an interview with FOX 8 that the investigation into the department’s detail program and the suspension of detail work for 26 police officers could take some time.
Updated: Nov. 18, 2021 at 9:53 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
An analysis of timesheets and off-duty detail assignments has found that certain New Orleans police officers might be violating the department’s policy on the maximum hours an officer can work.
Updated: Nov. 18, 2021 at 4:55 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
In an internal memo obtained by FOX 8, Deputy Superintendent Otha Sandifer said effective immediately 26 officers would be suspended from performing secondary employment, or detail work, until further notice.
Updated: Nov. 17, 2021 at 10:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
One group of New Orleans Police Officers are earning six figures a year -- but appear to be working two jobs at the same time.
Updated: Nov. 16, 2021 at 10:57 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
A New Orleans police sergeant appeared to be behind the wheel of a racecar on multiple occasions instead of being behind the wheel of his patrol car for assigned duty shifts and specially-assigned details.
Updated: Nov. 13, 2021 at 5:51 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
One day following a FOX 8 Lee Zurik Investigation exposing a secret Entergy committee that pays individuals for input, the power company releases information about the group.
Updated: Nov. 10, 2021 at 10:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Entergy has a secret it has been keeping from its customers and the New Orleans City Council.
Updated: Nov. 3, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
As lawmakers vow to push changes following the evacuation of more than 850 nursing home residents to a warehouse to ride out Hurricane Ida, one former lawmaker cautions that change is not easy in the industry.
Updated: Oct. 28, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Eight months after an explosion of an oil tank in Southwest Louisiana killed a teenage girl, a state agency hopes to have a new rule in place soon that could prevent another child from being injured or killed.
Updated: Sep. 28, 2021 at 10:19 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The City of New Orleans provided few answers Tuesday in response to a FOX 8 Lee Zurik Investigation that found the city’s contractor in charge of specifically collecting trash not associated with Hurricane Ida, was collecting nearly everything found on the street, including storm debris.
Updated: Sep. 27, 2021 at 10:34 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
City contractors that are supposed to keep trash and storm debris separate are mixing them together, which could mean a higher bill for whoever picks up the bill -- either the City of New Orleans or the federal government.
Updated: Sep. 17, 2021 at 4:31 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Bob Dean, the owner of seven nursing homes that evacuated more than 800 residents to a warehouse ahead of Hurricane Ida, plans to appeal the state’s decision to revoke the licenses for the facilities, his attorney said Friday.
Updated: Sep. 10, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Lawsuits are mounting against Bob Dean, the owner of seven nursing homes and the warehouse he used to shelter hundreds of residents during Hurricane Ida
Updated: Sep. 9, 2021 at 6:04 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Along with poor conditions and not enough space for hundreds of residents, one of the lawsuits states the warehouse was not zoned for use as a shelter and family members were not notified of their destination.
Updated: Sep. 7, 2021 at 10:25 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Evacuation plans from the seven nursing homes that had licenses revoked showed they claimed to be prepared for a large evacuation with plans for supplies and food, but the Louisiana Department of Health and families of those evacuated ahead of Hurricane Ida disagree.
Updated: Sep. 7, 2021 at 3:34 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Officials have revoked the licenses of seven nursing homes involved in an evacuation that crammed elderly and vulnerable residents into a warehouse.
Updated: Sep. 6, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Nursing home residents who were crammed inside of a warehouse shelter in Tangipahoa Parish where seven people died describe conditions inside as a ‘nightmare.’ The residents were among hundreds evacuated from seven nursing home facilities on the Southshore to the warehouse facility in Independence, La. ahead of Hurricane Ida.
Updated: Aug. 29, 2021 at 10:43 AM CDT
|By Jesse Brooks and Cody Lillich
City officials are asking those calling about emergencies to call 504-821-2222 in the meantime.
Updated: Aug. 25, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The head of a state nursing school says a board member pressured for a student’s admission on multiple occasions, despite the student falling below the cut-off for the program.
Updated: Aug. 18, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The leader of the state’s board over private security has been placed on leave after numerous allegations of wrongdoing surfaced around his leadership of the agency.
Updated: Aug. 11, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The State of Louisiana’s public records laws are in place to provide transparency to public agencies. But one New Orleans-based agency may be skirting those laws by not responding to requests.
Updated: Aug. 4, 2021 at 5:59 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The New Orleans Office of Inspector General has recommended charges be filed against two additional city inspectors who likely did not physically inspect the Hard Rock Hotel construction site before its collapse.
Updated: Aug. 2, 2021 at 8:11 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
A report suggests criminal charges should be filed in relation to a city inspector’s work connected to the Hard Rock Hotel construction site that collapsed in 2019, killing three workers.
Updated: Jul. 28, 2021 at 10:34 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
A New Orleans company, applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of nearly $200,000, but a FOX 8 Investigation found that at the time of the application, the company likely had no employees on staff.
Updated: Jul. 21, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Thousands of so-called ‘Shut-In Future Utility’ wells litter the Louisiana landscape with little enforcement to permanently plug them. One of those wells claimed the life of a Louisiana teenager, whose family says there was no warning of the site being dangerous.
Updated: May. 26, 2021 at 10:53 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
In November 2018, the state declared an emergency because of possible fracking failures that contributed to the environmental disaster. In that declaration, the state expressed concern that natural gas had entered the aquifer. Years later, a company has not been held accountable.
Updated: May. 25, 2021 at 10:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
A major oil company’s offer to plug so-called orphaned wells, left for dead in Terrebonne Parish was passed up by the state Department of Natural Resources and now the state could end up paying millions to do the work themselves.
Updated: May. 25, 2021 at 7:33 PM CDT
|By Cody Lillich
View an interactive map of where wells labeled as 'orphaned' are located in Louisiana.
Updated: May. 12, 2021 at 9:00 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Before the state approves any measures to finance storm restoration from last year's hurricane season, Entergy customers and a watchdog group want the state’s largest power provider to answer more questions about cost-saving moves and record profits in 2020.
Updated: May. 5, 2021 at 10:50 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
An investigative unit made up of three state agencies exists to curb the amount of insurance fraud in the state. But a FOX 8 Investigation found all of the spending by one of those agencies doesn’t seem to be going to insurance fraud cases, in possible violation of the law that founded the unit.
Updated: Apr. 14, 2021 at 10:44 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Nearly two years after FOX 8 and The Athletic investigated the financial mismanagement of a group that promised a so-called Field of Dreams in the Ninth Ward, a new group has formed to make that dream a reality.
Updated: Mar. 24, 2021 at 10:29 PM CDT
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
A third investigator says he believes the 2005 death of Joey Georgusis was a murder and not an overdose, as originally classified by the coroner’s office.
Updated: Mar. 19, 2021 at 2:15 PM CDT
|By Cody Lillich
Health officials in Louisiana will be using a key metric often used in times of disaster as a way to target outreach for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Updated: Mar. 13, 2021 at 9:43 PM CST
|By FOX 8 Staff, Cody Lillich and Jesse Brooks
Officers respond to afternoon shooting on Washington Ave.
Updated: Mar. 3, 2021 at 10:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Former St. Bernard Sheriff Jack Stephens faces nearly two hours of questions from an attorney for the family of Joey Georgusis, who died in 2005. Stephens called the questions 'offensive.'
Updated: Mar. 3, 2021 at 9:16 AM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
In Part 2 of Strangled, a photo in an autopsy file vanishes, and another investigator -- believes Joey Georgusis did not die of an overdose.
Updated: Mar. 1, 2021 at 10:26 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
FOX 8 Investigates why deputies from another parish responded to the 2005 death of Joey Georgusis hours before a 911 call was made.
Updated: Feb. 23, 2021 at 10:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The use of a city-owned vehicle is supposed to be for city services. But FOX 8 has found that a New Orleans city council member has been using her city-issued vehicle and provided security detail to run personal errands.
Updated: Feb. 22, 2021 at 10:00 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Members of the New Orleans City Council receive a unique perk, use of a city-owned vehicle and a security specialist contracted from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office. A FOX 8 Investigation found two of those security specialists are not allowed to perform security functions.
Updated: Feb. 10, 2021 at 9:55 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Questions have surfaced on a test for sexually-transmitted infections developed in a New Orleans lab and approved based on forged documents.
Updated: Feb. 4, 2021 at 9:57 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The relocation of a helicopter landing site at a New Orleans hospital has neighbors upset after having little to no input in the move. The project was also completed without the proper permits being issued by the City of New Orleans.
Updated: Jan. 21, 2021 at 10:46 AM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
Wesley Bishop, a former state senator who was the subject of several investigations by FOX 8′s Lee Zurik, has been permanently disbarred by the Supreme Court of Louisiana after his guilty plea in federal court to making false statements to a federal agency.
Updated: Dec. 16, 2020 at 9:55 PM CST
|By Lee Zurik and Cody Lillich
The New Orleans City Council will meet on Thursday and decide whether or not to allow Folgers Coffee Company to receive tax exemptions on work that was completed years ago at their New Orleans East facilities.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/2UVNNLYX4FE5JBTREMFACZOERU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/B2VWIF7Y6FEK3E4GO4ESITUVFY.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/BQO6J7BOWFGETFTDKL6KXSQYZI.png)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/52HRBEPEWFA4FN6LUZJJ3HN7WQ.png)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/C5GN6MOWPJEB5ATSQ4WXLPNL24.png)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/GMZG6WV3TFD4TKEJ5XHYCB3B5I.png)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/YHE55KAUQVAOTPAS6RXEOI72YY.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/KSIIMBPHBJAP5A7HB3E2NB5OHQ.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/G5QCLHQJOBB5VHAVW4LCSP2U7Q.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/M3C5KESLEBG6VDLMK7YZHP5V2Y.jpg)
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/D375L527S5ALTC4RJPQ2FEM7OE.jpg)