OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – The four workers charged after a 5-year-old boy was killed in a hyperbaric chamber explosion at an Oakland County health care center are scheduled to appear in court Monday as their preliminary examination resumes.
Tamela Peterson, 59, of Brighton, Jeffrey Mosteller, 65, of Clinton Township, Gary Marken, 66, of Spring Arbor and Aleta Moffitt, 61, of Rochester Hills, were charged after Thomas Cooper was killed when the hyperbaric chamber he was receiving treatment in exploded at the Oxford Center in Troy on Jan. 31, 2025. The boy’s mother was also injured in the explosion.
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The CEO and three workers are expected to appear before Oakland County Judge Maureen McGinnis in 52-4 District Court on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026.
This marks the seventh day the workers will appear in court for the key hearing, during which the judge will determine whether a crime was committed by each defendant and whether enough evidence exists to refer the case to a higher court for trial.
The four workers are accused of ignoring several safety guidelines for operating hyperbaric chambers, including not using a grounding wrist strap, rolling back the chamber cycle count, giving the 5-year-old boy a blanket straight from a running dryer, using polyester pillows and more.
Peterson, the Oxford Center’s founder and CEO, along with Mosteller, the safety manager, and Marken, the primary management assistant, were 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.
Testimony so far
During the hearing, the first witness called to testify was Tiffany Hosey, a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist (CHT) and Certified Hyperbaric and Wound Specialist (CHWS), who worked at the Oxford Center from fall 2020 until spring 2024.
She said she was let go after she expressed safety concerns, including patients in hyperbaric chambers being grounded. She said she questioned Mosteller regarding policies over the phone, through email, through Teams messages and in person.
Hosey said she asked Peterson multiple times why grounding straps weren’t used. She reportedly said grounding straps presented suffocation risks and that Mosteller had done independent tests that “proved” they weren’t necessary.
The test reportedly had a staff member lying still on a stretcher without a sheet, not in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber. The test did not alleviate Hosey’s concerns.
Francois Burman and Andrew Melnyczenko, experts who each have nearly 30 years of experience working with hyperbaric chambers, also testified about the importance of grounding wrist straps in monoplace chambers.
He said that while a grounding strap doesn’t eliminate the risk of discharge, it reduces it to being nearly impossible. He added that he would never allow a child in a monoplace chamber without a grounding strap.
“The risk is just too high,” Burman said. “There’s no logical reason to do that.”
Andrew Melnyczenko also highlighted that safety protocols, including documented safety pauses and grounding checks, were not consistently followed at the Oxford Center.
Troy Detective Ryan Whiteside testified about reviewing video footage of Thomas’ 35 treatments, noting the child never wore a grounding bracelet and was often given blankets right from the dryer, which contributes to static buildup.
The lead detective on the chase, Troy Detective Danielle Trigger, described arriving at the “chaotic” scene at the Oxford Center on the day of the explosion. She testified that grounding wrist straps were found unused in a “junk drawer” at the facility, indicating they were not routinely used.
Trigger also reviewed training materials, which emphasized the importance of grounding patients and fire prevention protocols, and shared details about phone calls that ended a police interview with a defendant.
Troy Fire Department Deputy Chief Shawn Hugg testified about securing the Oxford Center after the explosion and his investigation into the cause of the fire.
Hugg said static electric discharge was the likely cause of the fire, meeting all five conditions necessary for a static-induced fire ignition, but also testified that there is still some evidence that needs to be tested.
He explained reviewing safety guidelines for hyperbaric chambers, including approved materials and the importance of grounding straps to prevent static buildup in oxygen-rich environments, and said a grounding strap likely would have reduced the risk of ignition in this case.
Hugg said he relied on expert reports to support his findings and acknowledged that he cannot, with absolute certainty, rule out fabric-to-fabric static as a cause of the fire.