OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Officials have explained why the CEO of an Oakland County health care facility where a 5-year-old boy was killed in a hyperbaric chamber explosion was released from jail just hours after being sentenced to serve two days for a bond violation.
Tamela Peterson, 58, of Brighton, and three other workers were charged after Thomas Cooper was killed when the hyperbaric chamber he was receiving treatment in exploded at the Oxford Center on Jan. 31, 2025. The boy’s mother was also injured in the explosion.
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Peterson appeared in court on Tuesday, Sept. 30, in part because she had violated the firearms portion of her bond conditions.
In April, Peterson posted a $2 million bond. One of the conditions was that she had to surrender all firearms to the court, including constructive or actual possession.
She reportedly kept a gun and sold it over the summer.
Peterson waived a hearing and pleaded guilty to the bond violation.
“I failed to notify the court of a firearm that I constructively possessed with my husband,” Peterson said. “It was sold rather than surrendered to the court.”
“You were not to have any possession or control over weapons or firearms, and if it came to your attention that you had these or had the ability to constructively possess a weapon, you were to notify your attorney and to notify the court immediately so that it could be surrendered,” said Judge Maureen M. McGinnis. “It causes me some concern because from my perspective, out of all of the things that have been placed upon you in terms of conditions, this one seems to me the easiest to comply with.”
A motion to modify bond was also denied.
McGinnis sentenced Peterson on Tuesday afternoon, to two days in jail, but she was released just after midnight on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office clarified that regardless of booking time, since Peterson was booked on Sept. 30 and was released on Oct. 1, that qualifies as two days.
Her jail sentence was not for 48 hours, but for two days. Police said Tuesday and Wednesday counted as those two days, and that’s why she was released.