Four charged after boy, five, ‘incinerated’ in oxygen chamber explosion
Thomas Cooper, from Royal Oak, Michigan, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Four people have been charged over the death of a five-year-old boy who was “incinerated” inside a pressurised oxygen chamber that exploded at a medical facility in Detroit, Michigan’s attorney general has said.
Thomas Cooper, from Royal Oak, Michigan, was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother was standing next to the chamber and suffered injuries to her arms when it exploded January 31 at the Oxford Centre in Troy, Michigan.
Online court records show the centre’s founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson is charged with second-degree murder. Also charged are facility manager Gary Marken, 65; safety manager Gary Mosteller, 64; and the hyperbaric chamber’s operator that day, Aleta Moffitt, 60.
Marken and Mosteller are charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Moffitt is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false medical information on a medical records chart.
All were arrested on Monday pending arraignments on Tuesday afternoon in Troy District Court, Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“A single spark it appears ignited into a fully involved fire that claimed Thomas’s life within seconds,” Ms Nessel said.
“Fires inside a hyperbaric chamber are considered a terminal event. Every such fire is almost certainly fatal and this is why many procedures and essential safety practices have been developed to keep a fire from ever occurring.”
Ms Nessel said the defendants unscrupulously put children’s bodies at risk through unaccredited and debunked treatments, simply because it brought cash through the door.
Raymond Cassar, Marken’s attorney, said the second-degree murder charge comes as “a total shock” to him and his client.
“For fairness, he is presumed innocent,” Mr Cassar said.
“This was a tragic accident and our thoughts and our prayers go out to the family of this little boy.
“I want to remind everyone that this was an accident, not an intentional act. We’re going to have to leave this up to the experts to find out what was the cause of this.”
Moffitt’s lawyer, Ellen Michaels, declined to comment before Tuesday’s arraignment. The Associated Press left a telephone message seeking comment from Peterson’s lawyer. A lawyer was not listed for Mosteller.
A voicemail was left seeking comment from a lawyer representing the Oxford Centre. The AP also left a message seeking comment from the centre.
The Oxford Centre had said in an email following the explosion that a fire started inside the hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
“The safety and wellbeing of the children we serve is our highest priority,” the centre said.
“Nothing like this has happened in our more than 15 years of providing this type of therapy. We do not know why or how this happened and will participate in all of the investigations that now need to take place.”
Hyperbaric therapy increases delivers pure oxygen to a person’s body inside the pressurized chamber. That is up to five times the amount of oxygen in a normal room, Troy fire lieutenant Keith Young said following the explosion.
“The presence of such a high amount of oxygen in a pressurised environment can make it extremely combustible,” Mr Young said.
On Tuesday the defendants entered not guilty pleas before Troy District Court Magistrate Elizabeth Chiappelli.
Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel said during Peterson’s arraignment that there was concern Peterson could flee and that she has access “to a considerable sum of money”.
Peterson’s lawyer Gerald Gleeson II had asked for a reasonable bond.
Ms Chiappelli set bond at two million dollars (£1.54 million) for Peterson, 250,000 dollars (£193,100) each for Marken and Mosteller, and 100,000 dollars (£77,240) for Moffitt.
The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared hyperbaric chambers to be marketed as safe and effective for a list of 13 disorders, such as severe burns, decompression sickness and non-healing wounds. The list does not include many of the other disorders advertised by the Oxford Centre.
NBC News reported that according to the family’s lawyer, the boy had received multiple sessions of hyperbaric therapy for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
These conditions are not approved by the FDA to be marketed as effectively treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
The FDA also recommends that consumers only use hyperbaric centres that are inspected and accredited by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. The Oxford Centre does not appear on the society’s February 2025 list of accredited facilities.
