OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Four workers have been arraigned in connection to the death of a 5-year-old boy who was killed in a hyperbaric explosion in Oakland County.
Oxford Center Founder and CEO Tamela Peterson, 58, of Brighton, Oxford Center Safety Manager Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township, and Oxford Center Primary Management Assistant Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor, were arraigned on second-degree murder charges.
A fourth employee, Aleta Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, who was operating the hyperbaric chamber at the time of the explosion, was arraigned on the charges of involuntary manslaughter and falsifying medical records.
All defendants entered pleas of not guilty and are scheduled to appear in court again for a probable cause conference on March 19 and a preliminary examination on March 26.
Bond was set for all the defendants, and the following conditions were set if they are released:
They were ordered to be under the supervision of pretrial services, have no contact with the codefendants or the family of the victim, cannot return to Oxford Center virtually or in person at the Troy or Brighton location, and must turn in their passports.
Each defendant will be given a steel cuff GPS tether with home confinement and restricted leave if released.
They must not have any contact with current or past employees, cannot leave the state without permission, or obtain new criminal offenses.
The defendants cannot seek employment with any business that operates hyperbaric chambers. They also cannot possess firearms or dangerous weapons.
Here are more details surrounding each defendant from the arraignment:
Oxford Center Founder and CEO Tamela Peterson
Peterson was given a $2 million cash bond.
During the arraignment, Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel said that the founder and CEO had wiped her laptop, lied to authorities and had run from an investigator when they tried to obtain her phone to search it.
Kessel argued that Peterson posed as a flight risk because she had access to a “considerable amount of cash” and because her husband is a forensic accountant. He said that the CEO has shown she has no problem trying to impede an investigation and had allegedly lied to authorities in previous investigations.
It was also mentioned that Peterson had a Visa to China, but her attorney said that it was dated in August 2024, and she had it because her son got married in China.
The judge also brought up how the cycles of the chambers had been altered and set back and how investigators discovered that there had been “inappropriate use of still photos” taken from CCTV footage of the incident. No further information was provided about that at this time.
When her attorney questioned the high bond, the judge said, “The bond that I set is actually lower than I anticipated.”
Oxford Center Primary Management Assistant Gary Marken
Marken was given a $250,000 cash/surety bond with no 10%.
Kessel said they didn’t share the same concern about the risk of flight for Marken as they did for Peterson, but said they were concerned that he was involved with rolling back the numbers on hyperbaric chambers, making them “ticking time bombs, according to Kessel.
Marken’s attorney, Raymond Cassar, said that Marken was employed at the Brighton facility and hadn’t been to the Troy facility in three years.
Cassar said that Marken was a facilities manager and didn’t operate the machines.
It was stressed that Marken cooperated with police and agreed to sit down with the authorities as they investigated, and his attorney was under the impression that he would be able to bring the defendant into custody.
“It was a slap in the face,” Cassar said, referring to when he learned that Marken was arrested.
During the arraignment, we also learned that Marken allegedly shared an office with Peterson at the Brighton location.
Oxford Center Safety Manager Jeffrey Mosteller
Mosteller was given a $250,000 cash/surety bond, no 10%.
Kessel said that while Mosteller was employed at the Oxford Center, he had conducted his own experiments to prove the safety of the chamber to show other employees that what they were doing was safe.
He allegedly failed to utilize safeguards and the judge said if proper protocols were followed, then the hyperbaric explosion could have been prevented.
Hyperbaric Chamber Operator Aleta Moffitt
Moffitt was given a $100,000 cash bond. During the arraignment, her attorney, Ellen Michaels, presented letters written on Moffit’s behalf, and the judge took a brief court break to review the letters.
In an interview after court, Michaels said that the high bonds were unexpected, but she believes in the system and that justice will be served.
Michaels also discussed how during the press conference earlier on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, Attorney General Dana Nessel said they knew exactly how the fire started. Michaels' response to that was, “Show me the money.”
You can watch the full press conference in the video below:
