Troy Oxford Center Safety Manager Gets 19 Months to 15 Years in Boy's Hyperbaric Death

A safety manager at an Oakland County health care facility was sentenced to prison last week for his role in the death of a 5-year-old boy who was killed when a hyperbaric chamber exploded during treatment.

Jeffrey Mosteller, 66, of Clinton Township, was sentenced on Aug. 31 to 19 months to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest in July to involuntary manslaughter. He was the safety manager at the Oxford Center in Troy, where Thomas Cooper, 5, died on Jan. 31, 2025, when the hyperbaric chamber he was being treated in exploded. The boy's mother was also injured in the blast.

Mosteller was one of four Oxford Center employees charged in connection with the explosion. He had initially faced a second-degree murder charge along with involuntary manslaughter, but the murder charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement that led to his sentencing.

Tamela Peterson, 59, of Brighton, the Oxford Center's founder and CEO, and Gary Marken, 66, of Spring Arbor, the facility's primary management assistant, were also charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Aleta Moffitt, 61, of Rochester Hills, who was allegedly operating the hyperbaric chamber when it exploded, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and falsifying medical records.

Prosecutors have accused the four of ignoring basic safety guidelines for operating hyperbaric chambers, equipment that uses pressurized, oxygen-rich air and carries a known fire and explosion risk if not handled with strict precautions. According to charging documents, staff at the Oxford Center failed to use a required grounding wrist strap, rolled back the chamber's cycle count rather than servicing or replacing it on schedule, gave Cooper a blanket taken directly from a running dryer, and used polyester pillows inside the chamber. Each of those conditions can raise the risk of static electricity or heat igniting the oxygen-rich environment inside the chamber.

The explosion happened during a session at the Troy facility, which offered hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a treatment sometimes used for conditions such as wound healing and autism-related symptoms. Cooper was undergoing the treatment when the chamber ignited, killing him and injuring his mother, who was present at the time.

Mosteller's sentence resolves his portion of the case. The charges against Peterson, Marken and Moffitt remain pending, and their cases are moving through Oakland County courts separately from his.

The Oxford Center marketed hyperbaric treatment for pediatric and adult conditions before the explosion halted its operations. No court dates have been publicly set for the remaining defendants' trials or plea hearings as of Mosteller's sentencing.