Troy — A Troy judge on Tuesday said the owner of a local medical facility and three employees, where a 5-year-old boy died in an explosion last year, all “actively participated” in the decision to have patients not wear a key safety component as she ordered the four to stand trial on criminal charges.
Judge Maureen McGinnis of Troy’s 52-4 District Court said the combination of former employees’ testimony during a lengthy preliminary exam for Oxford Center CEO Tamela Peterson, safety director Jeffrey Mosteller, and operations manager Gary Marken for the death of Thomas Cooper, along with expert testimony, showed there was enough evidence to show malice without justification or excuse, the standard for second-degree murder.
She also ordered all three to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges.
“The defendants don’t need to actually intend the harmful result to occur for the case to be proven,” McGinnis said.
McGinnis’s ruling comes after Thomas was killed in an explosion in January 2025 inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. He’d been getting treatment at the Oxford Center’s Troy location for ADHD and sleep apnea. During a treatment on Jan. 31, 2025, a fire sparked in the chamber, killing him.
McGinnis cited the importance of former employees’ testimony during the preliminary exam, which started in September last year and spanned several days over multiple months, that their concerns about safety and grounding straps were brushed aside by Peterson, Marken and Mosteller.
“The decision-making pattern consistent throughout the testimony can lead a person of ordinary prudence to believe that Tammy, Gary and Jeff have the knowledge and capacity to implement proper safety procedures but intentionally decided to implement procedures that were inconsistent with industry standards,” McGinnis said.
If convicted of second-degree murder, Peterson, Mosteller and Marken face a maximum sentence of up to life in prison. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Aleta Moffitt, the hyperbaric chamber’s operator when Thomas died, was also bound over on an involuntary manslaughter charge, along with entering a false medical record. As McGinnis spoke in the courtroom Tuesday, she looked down.
“Ms. Moffitt’s conduct is viewed through the lens of the reasonable person, and given the great weight of the evidence presented about all of the factors that created the environment in the chamber that Thomas was receiving treatment in on January 31, 2025 a static discharge leading to a fatal fire was a very real and possible outcome that a hyperbaric technician would have been expected to use ordinary care to prevent,” McGinnis said.
Throughout the preliminary exam, prosecutors put witnesses on the stand who said the Oxford Center ignored safety protocols for hyperbaric oxygen chambers, specifically not using grounding straps. Grounding straps are wrist straps that connect a patient to the chamber to drain static electricity that may build up.
Prosecutors also alleged that Peterson, Mosteller and Marken ignored guidance from the chamber manufacturer’s manual, the National Fire Protection Association and the Oxford Center’s own training materials about safety in hyperbaric chambers.
Marken’s attorney, Todd Flood, said in a statement that McGinnis’s ruling “does not reflect the reality of my client’s involvement in this case.”
“Mr. Marken was not responsible for patient treatment. He was simply in charge of maintenance at Oxford Center’s Brighton facility, a location completely separate from the Troy facility where this tragedy occurred,” Flood said. “Furthermore, every witness testified that he had nothing to do with the treatment decisions made. Unfortunately, we must proceed to the next step of his trial. We will fight to the very end to clear Mr. Marken’s name.”
After the ruling, Mosteller’s attorney, Alona Sharon, declined to comment. Peterson’s attorneys attended via Zoom and were not immediately available for comment. Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel also declined to comment.
Hyperbaric expert Francois Burman testified Sept. 16 that Thomas’s knee may have touched the mattress in the chamber, possibly causing static electricity to build up and lead to the spark that started the fire.
“Did they know the rules? Did they now the consequences for not following the rules? And did they ignore them both? The answer is yes,” Kessel said Jan. 20.
Moffitt’s attorney, Ellen Michaels, had argued that her client was never trained to use grounding straps on patients, nor did she have any knowledge of them or read the chamber manufacturer’s manual. Michaels suggested Moffitt was caught up in the attorney general’s office determination to assign blame for Thomas’ death.
“This is a complicated case,” Michaels said after McGinnis’s ruling. “It involves multiple defendants, and while we believe the court understands the important distinctions between my client and the others, we maintain that my client should never have been charged. The loss of Thomas is devastating. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family for this profound and tragic loss.”
Thomas Cranmer, Peterson’s attorney, argued Jan. 20 that Peterson was charged because of her status as the Oxford Center’s CEO, rather than because of any evidence she bears culpability for Thomas’ death.
Cranmer referenced testimony from Troy Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Hugg, who said the investigation into the fire’s cause has not ended and there is no evidence that confirms the fire resulted from static electricity.
Marken’s attorney, Todd Flood, meanwhile, said his client also didn’t have anything to do with decisions about patients or operating the hyperbaric oxygen chambers. He characterized his client’s role at the Oxford Center as one akin to a handyman.
Peterson is charged in a separate case in the 53rd District Court in Howell with nine counts of health care fraud.
Thomas’s family has also filed a separate $100 million civil lawsuit against the Oxford Center, its owner and three employees as well as the chamber’s manufacturer for the boy’s death.
kberg@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Troy judge orders 4 to stand trial for boy’s death inside hyperbaric chamber
Reporting by Kara Berg, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Kara Berg, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
