TAMPA, Fla. -- People who live near the site where a 16-year-old boy was fatally injured by a firework described him as a "good kid."

Joseph King died overnight at Tampa General Hospital.

According to police, the accident happened outside a home at 4227 East Osborne Ave. 

King was attempting to deploy the large firework by holding the firing tube in his hand. But the mortar exploded in his hands, injuring his arm and blowing a hole in his chest.  

The fireworks had 2-inch shells with the long fuses that fire out of a tube on the ground and explode in the air. Police say instead, the teen was holding the tube it the air when he lit the fuse.

The mortar exploded inside the tube before it fired into the air, causing his fatal injuries.

Police said officers found good Samaritans already trying to help King when they arrived on the scene.

A woman who lives next door to where it happened described King as very respectful. She said he always called adults "sir" or "ma'am."

She and other neighbors said they could hear the sound of fireworks all night long, so they did not immediately know King was injured. When the neighbor did find out, she said she went to the street to pray for King.

Police said the investigation into the fireworks accident will be ongoing on Friday, with police trying to determine if anyone was supervising him.

Spectrum Bay News 9 reporter Jason Lanning contributed to this story.