OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – All four of the workers charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy who was killed in a hyperbaric chamber explosion at an Oakland County health care facility are expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
Tamela Peterson, 58, of Brighton, Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township, Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor and Aleta Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, are scheduled to appear before 52-4 District Court Judge Maureen McGinnis at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 30, for probable cause conferences.
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The last time all four of these workers were in court at the same time was on March 19 for probable cause conferences. During these, it was determined that another probable cause conference would need to be set due to the amount of discovery that needed to be reviewed in the case.
The four workers 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. His mother was also injured.
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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.
Mosteller and Peterson have appeared in court since their first probable cause conferences for hearings about their bond.
During a hearing on Wednesday, March 26, McGinnis lowered Mosteller’s bond from $250,000 to $50,000 cash/surety. She pointed to the fact that Mosteller had been given a court-appointed attorney and to information about his income and expenses that the court didn’t initially have.
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The judge wouldn’t lower Peterson’s $2 million bond, though. During a hearing on April 4, 2025, the judge said that while the other defendants seem to be respecting the court process, Peterson hasn’t.
The CEO allegedly made phone calls from jail to her family members, who are also employed by the Oxford Center, and discussed the case, including where to move around documents and who to hire and fire at the center.
McGinnis said that if Peterson couldn’t follow orders while in jail, she wasn’t comfortable having her at home, and denied her bond modification.
Despite that, Peterson still ended up posting her bond and was released from jail at 1 p.m. on April 9, 2025.
Marken, who was given a $250,000 bond, and Moffitt, who received a $100,000 bond, were released in early March.
Mosteller was released on March 31 after he had his bond lowered.
