Boy buried in sandbox in critical condition

EVERETT — A 10-year-old Everett area boy is listed in critical condition at Children's Hospital in Seattle after being buried in a sandbox by his playmates.

The boy has been identified by his family as Cody Porter.

His half brother, 30-year-old Joshua Quantrille, says Cody was playing with Quantrille's three sons and several other children on Saturday in the backyard of a home belonging to a family friend.

There is a sandbox in the backyard, and Quantrille says his children told him Cody came up with the idea that they should bury him, head first, in the sand.

Quantrille says the children were imitating a cartoon they watch on television.

Cody was buried approximately from his head to his chest, Quantrille said. At some point, he began thrashing around, but the children apparently thought he was playing.

Eventually they figured out that something was wrong. They pulled Cody out and called the adults inside the home, who administered CPR until an aid car arrived.

Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies interviewed the five children who were in the sandbox with Cody. None of them were detained or taken into custody.

The sheriff's office has called it a tragic accident.

This story, published March 9, 2008 was corrected on March 15. The name of a boy injured while playing in a sandbox Saturday was misspelled in the original version of this story. His first name is spelled Codey, not Cody.