Troy hyperbaric chamber explosion: Hearing continues for Oxford Center employees
Hearing continues in deadly hyperbaric chamber explosion case
The preliminary examination for four employees of the Oxford Center in Troy continues Monday. They are charged in connection with a hyperbaric chamber explosion that killed a young boy earlier in the year.
TROY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Four employees of a Troy medical facility where a boy died in an explosion are due back in court Monday.
Oxford Center CEO and founder Tamela Peterson, her management assistant, Gary Marken, and the center's safety manager, Jeffrey Mosteller, were all charged with second-degree murder, along with alternative counts of involuntary manslaughter, which would let a jury decide which charges fit the case.
Aleta Moffitt is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information on a medical record as a medical provider. Moffitt was the operator of the hyperbaric chamber at the time.
The backstory:
These charges arise from the death of 5-year-old Thomas Cooper.
Cooper was in a hyperbaric chamber at the Oxford Center in late January when it exploded, killing him and badly injuring his mother.
Experts on hyperbaric chamber treatments were consulted for the investigation, and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said "horrifying and simple conclusions were reached."
Nessel said the Oxford Center routinely operated sensitive and lethal, dangerous hyperbaric chambers beyond their expected service lifetime and in complete disregard of vital safety measures and practices considered essential by medical and technical professionals.
She called it a business that was purely for cash.
Dig deeper:
Monday is the second day of the preliminary examination for Peterson, Marken, Mosteller, and Moffitt.
During the first day of the preliminary examination back in September, Tiffany Hosey, a former hyperbaric chamber technician for the Oxford Center took the stand.
Hosey, the only witness to testify that day, said that she repeatedly warned Peterson and Mosteller that patients weren't being strapped with grounding straps. These straps are designed to prevent static sparks inside the chambers. She also testified that Peterson and some of her family members allegedly used the chambers without that safety measure.
Ex-employee says she knew hyperbaric chamber not safe before it killed boy
Tiffany Hosey testified in court on Monday, saying her safety concerns were ignored at the Oxford Center in Troy.
Despite Hosey's warnings, nothing changed, and it got to the point where she said she no longer felt safe working with the chambers. She was eventually let go from her job.
During cross-examination, the defense pressed Hosey about this, noting that she continued to work at the center despite her concerns.
The Source: Previous reporting was used to write this story.