OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – The CEO of an Oakland County health care facility where a 5-year-old boy died in a hyperbaric chamber explosion appeared in court today.
During the hearing, a judge denied a motion for an evidentiary hearing but granted a request to allow Peterson to return to the Oxford Center location in Brighton. She is allowed to return to the Brighton location to help facilitate the sale of the building. You can watch the full hearing in the video at the top of this article.
Tamela Peterson, 58, of Brighton, and three other workers were charged after Thomas Cooper was killed when the hyperbaric chamber in which he was receiving treatment in exploded at the Oxford Center in Troy on Jan. 31, 2025.
Here’s what happened during the hearing on Monday, July 14, 2025:
Judge denies motion for evidentiary hearing
The CEO appeared before 52-4 District Court Judge Maureen McGinnis for a motion hearing on Monday, July 14, after her attorney filed a motion requesting an evidentiary hearing to determine the extent of law enforcement’s access and review of privileged materials during the investigation.
Gerald Gleeson, Peterson’s attorney, said that they are requesting an evidentiary hearing to determine how police located information when reviewing the CEO’s phones and computers and what kind of information they reviewed.
The attorney also said he was “extremely concerned” that it took months for him to get reports from all of the detectives who worked on the case.
Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel denied the claims and objected to an evidentiary hearing.
“He’s asking for a hearing on the off-chance that something might be discovered because the truth is, he cannot point to any evidence that has been used or referenced or anything like that, that would indicate that any of his client’s attorney-client privilege communications have been breached or broken into or anything like that,” Kessel said.
Kessel said it took so long for the detectives’ reports to be generated because members of Kessel’s team have been going back and forth with Gleeson about the approval of their review team policy.
Because of that, the court stepped in and ordered that the search policy be put in place. Once that happened, Kessel said he asked for reports from every detective involved, which he then sent to Gleeson.
“He can’t say for months, ‘We think your review team is inadequate, and it can’t be used,’ and then months later say ‘Well, your review team should’ve been being used back then and why wasn’t it?’” Kessel said.
McGinnis said, without requesting them, reports from every detective wouldn’t have been provided anyway.
The judge denied the motion and said there was nothing specific presented by the defense that showed a violation of Peterson’s privilege rights.
Peterson allowed to return to Oxford Center in Brighton for sale of property, judge rules
Before the hearing ended, Gleeson also asked the judge to modify the conditions of Peterson’s bond.
The attorney said that the Oxford Center’s Brighton location is being sold, and asked if the judge could modify Peterson’s bond conditions so that she could go to the center to help package items, sign documents and facilitate the sale of the building to the new owner. The property does appear to be for sale in online listings.
The judge said she was under the assumption that the parties “resolved any potential preservation of evidence” before making this request.
Kessel said there wasn’t any more physical evidence of value at the property and said he wasn’t objecting to bond conditions being modified for this purpose.
Gleeson said once the building is sold, Peterson would have no reason to return there. He also noted that any documents and materials at the center in Brighton won’t be thrown out; they’ll be put in storage.
The judge granted the request, allowing Peterson to be present at the center on specific days for this purpose. She said Peterson must give pretrial services the required notice and that this cannot involve her codefendants.
Before July 14, Peterson last appeared in court for a motion hearing on June 16, while Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township; Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor; and Aleta Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, last appeared in court on May 28.
Peterson, along with Mosteller, the safety manager, and Marken, the primary management assistant, are charged with second-degree murder. They were also given the alternative charge of involuntary manslaughter, which means that a jury will decide which charge accurately fits their conduct.
Moffitt, who was allegedly operating the hyperbaric chamber at the time of the explosion, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and falsifying medical records.
Click here for all of our coverage on the hyperbaric chamber explosion.
Watch the full hearing below: