EVERETT — Two years after their son’s death, the parents of Codey Porter have filed a lawsuit against five children who allegedly buried the boy in a backyard sandbox.
Codey, 10, was playing with the children on March 8, 2008, outside a friend’s Everett house. His playmates, ages 7 to 10, told adults they were recreating a scene from a popular animated cartoon. Codey was buried in the sand head first and stopped breathing.
Investigators said when the children realized something was wrong they pulled the boy out. Adults performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Codey died two days after the incident at Children’s Hospital. His family was at his side.
Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies determined that the boy’s death was an accident, not a crime.
The wrongful death lawsuit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court alleges that the kids were negligent when they buried Codey.
The children “watched for eight to 10 minutes as Codey Porter kicked, struggled and wiggled to free himself. While the defendants did not murder Codey Porter, they failed to exercise ordinary care,” Port Orchard lawyer Eric Fong wrote in the lawsuit.
Fong alleged that the children laughed at Codey as he lay buried in the sand. They prevented him from freeing himself by putting so much sand on him that he couldn’t get up, and they may have held him down, according to the lawsuit.
Also named in the lawsuit is Holly Hanson. The lawsuit alleges that Hanson was the only adult at home and was negligent in her supervision of the children.
The claim makes no mention of reports that Codey was mimicking a scene from “Naruto,” a popular Japanese animated cartoon. One character, Gaara of the Sand, fights by immobilizing his opponents in sand.
Fong declined to discuss any details about what may have led to the boy being buried.
Instead, he said the lawsuit could have been avoided altogether if one of the children’s insurance carriers had agreed to accept responsibility. That would have been in the best interest of their client, a child, Fong said. A second insurance company agreed to pay for damages, but one has refused, the lawyer said.
“I get how horrible it is that these kids are getting sued. It bothers us that these little kids have to go through this unnecessarily,” Fong said. “It wasn’t done lightly.”
Codey attended Silver Firs Elementary School. His teachers and classmates remembered Codey as a kind-hearted boy with a big imagination. The freckle-faced fifth-grader dreamed of being a superhero and excelled at video games.
More than 150 people attended the boy’s memorial service in March 2008. His dad told the mourners that his son became a superhero in death. Codey’s organs were donated to five different people, ages 8 to 55.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
