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Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday.
Boy Thomas Cooper was “incinerated” in a pressurized oxygen chamber that exploded at the Oxford Center, a medical facility located outside Detroit on January 31st. His mother stood next to the room and was injured while trying to save him.
“The single spark that appears to have been ignited in a fire that was fully involved in it claimed Thomas’ life within seconds,” Nessel said at a press conference Tuesday.
The Attorney General’s Office has charged three defendants with second-degree murder. Tamara Peterson, Oxford Centre owner, 58. Safety Manager Jeffrey Mostarr, 64; Gary Marken (65), the facility’s principal administrative assistant;
Each faces one count of two murders and one count of involuntary manslaughter.
Aretamofitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, who operated the Hyperbaric office, was charged with inadvertent manslaughter and was charged with mistakenly placing incorrect medical information on a medical record sheet.
“Because of many failures by men and women who call themselves medical professionals and want or knowingly ignore their actions that could lead to patient death, five-year-old Thomas Cooper was killed when fire erupted in a pressurized, pure oxygen environment indoors,” Nessel said.
Nessel said the accused put the child’s body at risk through the accused and exposed treatment solely because he brought cash through the door.
“We intend to show in court the series of actions taken by these defendants who have fulfilled these charges and tragically led to the death of this child,” she said.
Marken’s lawyer, Raymond Cassar, said the second murder charge would be a “complete shock” for him and his clients.
“For the sake of fairness, he is presumed innocent,” Kassar said.
In an email after the explosion, the Oxford Centre said, “The safety and happiness of the children we serve are our number one priority.”
“Nothing like this has happened for us over 15 years providing this type of treatment. We don’t know why this happened or how it happened, but we’re going to be involved in all the research that needs to be done now,” the centre statement said.
Medical High Pressure Single Pressure Room at Modern Hospital (Getty)
Hypertension therapy brings pure oxygen to the human body within a pressurized chamber.
“When you have such a large amount of oxygen in a pressurized environment, it becomes very flammable,” said Lt. Col. Troy Fire.
The US Food and Drug Administration is sold to be safe and effective against a list of 13 disorders, including severe burns, decompression illness, and non-healing injuries. This list does not include many of the other obstacles that the Oxford Centre advertised.
NBC News reported that the boy had undergone multiple sessions due to sleep apnea and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to family lawyers. These conditions are not approved by the FDA, which is sold to be effectively treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
The FDA also recommends that consumers only use high pressure centres that have been tested and certified by the Undersea and High Pressure Medical Association. The Oxford Centre is not listed on the February 2025 Association listing of certified facilities.
Attorney General Nessel said her office had extensive consultations with experts on high-pressure chambers and treatment.
“We’ve come to a horrible, simple conclusion,” she said. “The Oxford Centre routinely operated sensitive, deadly dangerous high-pressure chambers, exceeding the expected service life and completely ignored critical safety measures and practices that medical and technical experts deemed essential.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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