- Four people have reportedly been arrested after a 5-year-old boy died in a hyperbaric chamber explosion on Jan. 31
- The victim, identified as Thomas Cooper, had been receiving treatment at The Oxford Center in Troy, Michigan for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, NBC News previously reported, citing the family’s attorney
- One of the four facing charges is the facility’s founder and CEO, Tamela Peterson, per reports
Four people have been arrested after a 5-year-old boy died inside a hyperbaric chamber in Michigan, it’s been reported.
On Monday, March 10, Troy Police Department confirmed that four people had been taken into custody following the Jan. 31 explosion, per local NBC-affiliated station WDIV.
As previously reported, lawyers representing the child’s family identified the victim killed as Thomas Cooper, according to the Detroit Free Press and CBS affiliate WWJ-TV.
Authorities previously said the child was in a hyperbaric chamber at The Oxford Center in Troy, Mich., when the explosion occurred just before 8 a.m. local time.
Per NBC News, the founder and CEO of the alternative medicine facility, Tamela Peterson, was among those arrested. Peterson and two others have been charged with second-degree murder, while a fourth person is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information in medical records, the outlet stated, citing court documents.
Police haven’t released the names of those arrested, but court records showed Peterson was one of them, CBS News Detroit reported. NBC News reported that Gerald Gleeson II is representing Peterson, but declined to comment on her arrest on Monday.
The arraignment is expected to take place on Tuesday, March 11, per WDIV.
Thomas Cooper.
GoFundMe
The victim’s family’s attorney, James Harrington of Fieger Law, told NBC News last month that the family was “absolutely devastated” in the wake of Thomas’s death and plan to file a lawsuit “to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
Harrington told the outlet that Thomas’s parents decided to take him to The Oxford Center to receive treatment in a hyperbaric chamber for sleep apnea and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Per the Federal Drug and Food Administration(FDA), the chambers have a “higher” air pressure than normal to help patients breathe in 100% pure oxygen. The FDA said on its website that the devices “are not proven to cure cancer, Lyme disease, autism or Alzheimer’s disease,” and recommended that people check with their health care providers before using one. However, the chambers have been cleared by the FDA to treat certain conditions including burns and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Harrington told NBC News last month that Thomas’s mother Annie Cooper had attempted to “rescue” her child “out of the burning flames” when a fire broke out in the chamber, leading to “significant burns on her arm.”
The Troy Fire Department previously said in a statement on Facebook that they had responded to a report of a “hyperbaric chamber explosion with a child inside,” and when they arrived on the scene, they found the 5-year-old, from Royal Oak, dead.
“A hyperbaric chamber contains 100 percent oxygen, which is up to three times the amount of oxygen than a normal room,” the post stated. “The presence of such a high amount of oxygen in a pressurized environment can make it extremely combustible.”
Following Monday’s arrests, The Oxford Center said in a statement to CBS News Detroit, “After cooperating with multiple investigations starting immediately after the tragic accident in January, we are disappointed to see charges filed.”
“The timing of these charges is surprising, as the typical protocol after a fire-related accident has not yet been completed. There are still outstanding questions about how this occurred. Yet, the Attorney General’s office proceeded to pursue charges without those answers,” they added.
“Our highest priority every day is the safety and wellbeing of the children and families we serve, which continues during this process,” the center concluded, per the outlet.
A GoFundMe set up to support Thomas’s family following his death had raised more than $67,000 as of Tuesday, March 11.
Fieger Law, representing the victim’s family, Gerald Gleeson II’s law firm Miller Canfield, The Oxford Center and Sam Vitale, who is reportedly representing the facility, didn’t immediately respond when contacted for comment.
