Four people were charged Tuesday with the death of a five-year-old boy who was “incinerated” in a pressurized oxygen chamber that exploded in a medical facility outside Detroit.
Thomascooper, of Royal Oak, Michigan, was declared dead at the scene at the Oxford Center in Troy on January 31st. His mother was standing next to the room and was injured while trying to save her boy.
“The single spark that appears to have been ignited in a fire that was fully involved in it claimed Thomas’ life within seconds,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a press conference Tuesday.
“Fires in high pressure chambers are considered terminal events. All such fires are almost certainly deadly, and this is why many procedures and intrinsic safety practices have been developed to prevent a fire from occurring,” she said.
Tamera Peterson, 58, the founder and chief executive of the center, is charged with second-degree murder. Facility manager Gary Marken, 65, and safety manager Gary Mosteller, 64, are charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. The operator of the chamber when the explosion was 60-year-old Aleta Moffitt, charged with involuntary manslaughter, intentionally places false medical information on the medical record sheet.
Nessel said he was arrested on Monday pending Tuesday afternoon in Troy District Court.
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Nessel said the accused put the child’s body at risk through the accused and exposed treatment solely because he brought cash through the door.
Marken’s lawyer, Raymond Cassar, said the second murder charge would be a “complete shock” for him and his clients.
“For the sake of fairness, he is presumed innocent,” Kassar said. “This is a tragic accident, and our thoughts and our prayers go to this little boy’s family. I want to remind everyone that this is not a deliberate act, but an accident. We need to leave this to the experts and find out the cause of this.”
Moffitt’s lawyer, Ellen Michaels, declined to comment before his arrest Tuesday. The Associated Press left a phone message Tuesday morning seeking comment from Peterson’s attorney. The lawyer was not listed on Mosteller.
A voicemail was left for comment from an attorney representing the Oxford Centre. The AP also left a message from the centre seeking comment. The Associated Press sent an email to attorneys representing the family, commenting on the charges and not immediately received a response.
In an email after the explosion, the Oxford Centre said, “The safety and welfare of the children we serve are our number one priority.”
“Nothing like this has happened for us over 15 years providing this type of treatment. We don’t know why this happened or how it happened, but we’re going to be involved in all the research that needs to be done now,” the centre statement said.
Hypertension therapy brings pure oxygen to the human body within a pressurized chamber. This is five times the amount of oxygen in a normal room, Lt. Col. Troy Fire Keith Young said after the explosion.
“The presence of such a large amount of oxygen in a pressurized environment can make it very flammable,” Young said.
The US Food and Drug Administration is sold to be safe and effective against a list of 13 disorders, including severe burns, decompression illness, and non-healing injuries. This list does not include many of the other obstacles that the Oxford Centre advertised.
NBC News reported that the boy had undergone multiple sessions due to sleep apnea and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to family lawyers. These conditions are not approved by the FDA, which is sold to be effectively treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
The FDA also recommends that consumers only use high pressure centres that have been tested and certified by the Undersea and High Pressure Medical Association. The Oxford Centre is not listed on the February 2025 Association listing of certified facilities.
Nessel said her office had extensive consultations with high-pressure chambers and treatment specialists.
“We’ve come to a horrible, simple conclusion,” she said. “The Oxford Centre routinely operated sensitive, deadly dangerous high-pressure chambers, exceeding the expected service life and completely ignored critical safety measures and practices that medical and technical experts deemed essential.”
Corey Williams
