Three people were charged with second degree murder after a 5 -year -old boy was killed when a hyperbaric room exploded in a Michigan medical establishment earlier this year, officials announced on Tuesday.
Thomas Cooper died on January 31 at the Oxford Center in Troy incident, officials said.
The room contained 100% oxygen, which makes it extremely flammable, said Lieutenant Keith Young of the Strait Fire Service at the time.
Thomas Cooper is seen in a photo published by the lawyers of his family.
Fieger law
The National Fire Protection Association and the manufacturer of the hyperbaric chamber was “completely ignored” at the time of the boy’s death, said Dana Nessel.
“Because of many failures by men and women who say they are health professionals – and deliberate or deliberate contempt for the probability that their actions would lead to the death of a patient – Thomas Cooper, 5, was killed,” said Nessel at a press briefing announcing the accusations on Tuesday.
The owner of the Oxford Center, Tamela Peterson, 58, and two other employees of the establishment – the director of security Jeffrey Mosseller, 64, and Gary Marken, 65, the main management assistant – have now been accused of second degree murder in the context of his death, said the Nessel office.
They are also faced with another accusation of manslaughter. Nessel said that a jury will finally decide whether the state has enough evidence to prove the accusation of murder.
Nessel said they were convinced that the second degree murder accusation, which is a potential life offense, is appropriate. The accusation requires that the accusation proves that the defendant “knowingly created a very high risk of death or bodily injury, knowing that death or damage would be the likely result of their actions”.
The operator of the hyperbaric chamber, Aleta Moffitt, 60, also faces an accusation of manslaughter and a chief of falsification of medical records, said the Nessel office.
The Oxford Center by Troy Michigan, 165 kirts Boulevard, is seen here from Google Maps.
The Oxford Center said that he had cooperated with multiple investigations on “the tragic accident” and is “disappointed” from the decision to file a complaint.
“The moment of these charges is surprising, because the typical protocol after an accident linked to the fire has not yet been completed,” the Oxford Center said in a statement. “There are still questions unanswered about the way it happened. However, the prosecutor’s office continued its expenses without these answers.”
“Our highest priority every day is the safety and well-being of children and families that we serve, which continues during this process,” added the press release.
The accused are in detention and will be arrested on Tuesday afternoon, said the district prosecutor’s office.
Their arrest on Monday followed an “in -depth and difficult investigation,” said Troy police police, Josh Jones, in a statement.
Thomas was killed “in a few seconds” when only one spark seems to have lit a fire inside the room, said Nessel. His mother was also injured, the authorities said.
“Fires inside a hyperbaric room are considered a terminal event. Each fire is almost certainly deadly, and that is why many essential security procedures and practices have been developed to prevent a fire from occurring,” said Nessel. “The investigation into this tragedy revealed how the Oxford Center in Troy and several of its main decision -makers have kept safety among their lowest considerations in their hyperbaric treatment practice.”
The Attorney General of Michigan, Dana Nessel, talks about the third day of the National Democratic Convention (DNC) in Chicago, August 21, 2024.
Mandel and / AFP
Nessel detailed several safety standards which, she said, were “completely ignored by the staff of the Oxford center” on the day of Thomas’ death. According to Nessel, the survey revealed that the verification of daily maintenance was not carried out, the security check before diving was not carried out on Thomas, an “essential” strap of the patient’s worn earth was not used, there was no doctor or supervisor on site at the time of treatment and the treatment was not carried out by a license technician.
The annual inspections of the hyperbaric chamber, as suggested by the manufacturer, was not carried out either, according to Nessel.
“It was an unscrupulous company, exploiting powerful machines beyond the scheduled period of use of their manufacturers on the children’s body – again and again – to provide so -called non -accredited and demystified treatments, mainly because it has introduced money to the door,” said Nessel.
The Oxford Center offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy to autistic children, ADHD and autoimmune diseases and other health problems, said the district prosecutor’s office.
