TROY, Mich. – An Oakland County health clinic where a 5-year-old boy was killed when a hyperbaric chamber exploded reportedly has a history of fraud investigations, evidence tampering and witness intimidation.
Thomas Cooper, 5, was killed on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, when the hyperbaric chamber he was receiving treatment in at the Oxford Center in Troy exploded.
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Oxford Center founder and CEO Tamela Peterson, Oxford Center safety manager Jeffrey Mosteller, and Oxford Center primary management assistant Gary Marken are all facing second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges.
A fourth employee, Aleta Moffitt, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and placing false information on a medical chart.
According to a swear to, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office told Troy police they had conducted a multi-year investigation into the Oxford Center for various fraud offenses. The office reportedly told Troy police investigators that Paterson and her IT staff had “a history of tampering with and/or destroying evidence” during its investigation.
Surveillance video footage and records were specifically listed as things the center allegedly interfered with. Additionally, there were allegations of witness intimidation and many of the people who came forward reportedly said they were afraid of retribution from Peterson.
Related: Ex-Oxford Recovery Center director of services sentenced for identity theft, intimidating witness
When police arrived at the scene on Jan. 31, after the explosion, they reportedly were told that they could see a short clip from surveillance, but that all CCTV footage would have to be obtained from the Oxford Center’s Brighton location.
Court documents claim the full video of the incident actually was accessible at the Troy facility and could have been retrieved on the day of the explosion by detectives, “but they were not afforded that opportunity by the staff.”
In the days that followed, search warrants were approved for Cooper’s medical logs and CCTV footage and the electronic devices belonging to Moffitt, Marken, Peterson, Monsteller and the Troy facility’s lead hyperbaric tech, Bowen Yang.
On the day of the explosion, the time stamps on the footage for Cooper’s treatment, medical logs and handwritten records reportedly did not line up.
When police told Peterson they had a search warrant for her cellphone, she reportedly ran from the investigators. After retrieving her phone, she allegedly told police she had her son wipe her laptop.
In the swear to, Det. Danielle Trigger said the department’s investigation following the explosion “has shown a clear history of dishonesty, interference with investigations, predatory behavior towards vulnerable individuals desperately trying to get treatment, and a culture of negligence and unsafe practices that’s gone on for years.”
