Owner, 3 employees to stand trial after 5-year-old boy killed in hyperbaric chamber explosion

By Dylan Goetz, Tribune Information Service

The proprietor and three workers of the Oxford Heart will stand trial on legal fees in reference to the demise of a five-year-old little one when a hyperbaric chamber exploded.

Proprietor Tamela Peterson, 58, safety supervisor Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, Gary Marken, 65, and Aleta Moffitt, 60, had been jailed on fees within the sixth Circuit Court docket on Tuesday, February 10, Michigan Legal professional Normal Dana Nessel introduced.

Peterson, Mosteller and Marken every face one rely of manslaughter or, alternatively, one rely of involuntary manslaughter.

Moffitt faces one rely of involuntary manslaughter and one rely of deliberately inserting false info on a card.

5-year-old Thomas Cooper was within the hyperbaric chamber present process remedy when it caught fireplace from the within and exploded, in line with a information launch from Nessel’s workplace.

The Oxford Heart in Troy offered remedy to kids with a wide range of well being situations, together with autism, ADHD and autoimmune ailments.

The Nationwide Hearth Safety Affiliation and the producer of the hyperbaric chamber each publish strict security protocols, which had been reportedly intentionally discarded on the time of Cooper’s demise, the discharge stated.

“When professionals charged with caring for our kids abandon the requirements designed to maintain them secure, they should be held accountable,” Nessel stated in a press release. “I’m relieved that this case will go to trial, the place we are going to proceed to pursue justice for Thomas and his household.”

The explosion occurred on January 31, 2025.

Troy police and firefighters had been dispatched to a medical facility at 165 Kirts Blvd. shortly earlier than 8 a.m. for studies of an explosion.

Firefighters had been capable of include the fireplace to the room the place the explosion occurred, officers stated.

The boy’s mom suffered accidents to her arm as she stood subsequent to the room when it exploded, police on the scene stated.