4 charged in death of 5-year-old boy in hyperbaric chamber explosion

DETROIT, Michigan -- Four people have been charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy who was "incinerated" inside a pressurized oxygen chamber that exploded at a suburban Detroit medical facility, Michigan's attorney general said Tuesday.

Thomas Cooper from Royal Oak, Michigan, was pronounced dead at the scene on Jan. 31 at the Oxford Center in Troy. His mother was standing next to the chamber and was injured.

"A single spark it appears ignited into a fully involved fire that claimed Thomas's life within seconds," Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a news conference Tuesday.

"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," she said.

The center's founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson, 58, is charged with second-degree murder. The facility's 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 it exploded, Aleta Moffitt, 60, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false medical information on a medical records chart.

All were arrested Monday pending arraignments Tuesday afternoon in Troy District Court, Nessel said.

Nessel said the defendants unscrupulously put children's bodies at risk through unaccredited and debunked treatments, simply because it brought cash through the door. She said putting the boy in a pressurized oxygen chamber for the ailments he suffered "is not supported by medical science."

NBC News reported that according to the family's attorney, the boy received multiple sessions for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. These conditions aren't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be marketed as effectively treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy -- a fact reiterated by Nessel on Tuesday.

"Because these treatments were so medically unsound, patient insurance policies would not cover the use of these chambers to treat these conditions," Nessel said. "This business was a pure cash-flow, for-profit business."

Nessel called Cooper's death "an easily preventable tragedy." A maintenance check on the chamber had not been performed that day, no medical doctor or safety supervisor was on-site and the treatment was not performed by a licensed technician. Yearly inspections had not been conducted, and "the essential patient-worn grounding strap was not used," she said.

The FDA 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 doesn't include many of the other disorders advertised by the Oxford Center.

The second-degree murder charge comes as "a total shock" said Raymond Cassar, Marken's attorney.

"For fairness, he is presumed innocent," 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."

CBS News Detroit reached out to the Oxford Center for comment and received the following statement:

"After cooperating with multiple investigations starting immediately after the tragic accident in January, we are disappointed to see charges filed.

"The timing of these charges is surprising, as the typical protocol after a fire-related accident has not yet been completed. There are still outstanding questions about how this occurred. Yet, the Attorney General's office proceeded to pursue charges without those answers.

"Our highest priority every day is the safety and wellbeing of the children and families we serve, which continues during this process."

Investigators say Thomas Cooper was in the chamber when it exploded on Jan. 31, 2025. The boy's mother was in the room at the time and was injured in the explosion. In a news conference shortly after the incident, Troy police and fire departments did not indicate what may have led to the explosion but said that hyperbaric chambers are filled with 100% oxygen and are, therefore, combustible devices.

Nessel called Cooper's death "an easily preventable tragedy." A maintenance check on the chamber had not been performed that day, no medical doctor or safety supervisor was on-site and the treatment was not performed by a licensed technician. Yearly inspections had not been conducted, and "the essential patient-worn grounding strap was not used," she said.

Within days of the tragedy, the family retained Fieger Law, which alleges that the center had a history of being involved in questionable business practices.

Attorney James Harrington told CBS News Detroit last month that his office was getting ready to file a lawsuit demanding answers into what led to his death. Harrington said the lawsuit will be filed pending their investigation.

"Under no circumstances ... should anything ever like this happen and the only way this happens is negligence," Harrington said. "This industry in Michigan is unregulated. There's not a lot of science to back these claims that are being made as to what ailments and problems can actually be fixed or better by this hyperbaric treatment."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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