SEATTLE - The 10-year-old boy who was critically injured when his playmates buried him head-first in a sandbox has died.

Codey Porter died at at 3:35 p.m. on Monday at Children's Hospital in Seattle. His family said the boy passed peacefully with his loved ones by his side.

Codey had been listed in critical condition at the hospital since Saturday's incident.

His half-brother, 30-year-old Joshua Quantrille, says Codey was playing with Quantrille's three sons and several other children on Saturday in the back yard of a home belonging to a family friend, in the 13800 block of 59th Ave. SE in unincorporated Everett.

There is a sandbox in the backyard, and Quantrille says his children told him Codey came up with the idea that they should bury him head first in the one-foot-deep sandbox.

Quantrille says the children came up with the idea from 'Naruto,' a cartoon about sand ninjas they watch on television.

Codey was buried about from his head to his chest. 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 Codey out and called the adults inside the home, who administered CPR until medics arrived.

Codey was first taken to an Everett hospital and later transferred to Children's Hospital.

Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies interviewed the five children who were in the sandbox with Codey. Friends told deputies they didn't know Codey couldn't breathe until they pulled him out. The sheriff's office has called it a tragic accident.

Friends describe Codey as a friendly and active boy and said they're heartbroken by the tragedy.

"He was a really energetic kid, hyper kid and really outgoing," said neighbor Aaron Mattern.

"My heart just sank because we had just seen the family Thursday," said Christy Peters, who knows Cody from the neighborhood YMCA.

Codey's outgoing personality shone last fall when he was featured on KOMO 4's "Northwest Afternoons" as a cook. At the time his mother worked for Fisher Communications, which owns KOMO (Seattle), KATU (Portland) and a number of other television stations.

District leaders brought in counselors to help Codey's fellow fifth graders at Silver Firs Elementary School deal with the news of the tragedy.

Codey's family has decided to honor his memory by donating his organs.

A memorial fund has been set up for Codey on the Gold Creek Community Church's Web site. Contributors will be asked to create an account on the Web site for security reasons.