Former Michigan Safety Manager Sentenced Over Child’s Hyperbaric Chamber Death

Jeffrey Mosteller, 66, has been sentenced to one year and seven months in prison for his role in the death of a five-year-old boy inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber at a Michigan healthcare facility. Mosteller pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in Oakland County Circuit Court. He was the safety manager at the Oxford Center, an alternative healthcare facility in Troy that provides hyperbaric oxygen therapy to children and others with various health conditions. Thomas Cooper, from Royal Oak, was receiving treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and sleep apnea in January 2025 when a fire began inside the chamber. The fire triggered an explosion and killed him. His mother suffered serious burns to her arms and chest while attempting to open the chamber, according to The Guardian’s report. An expert who reviewed video of the incident said Cooper appeared to have moved enough to pull a sheet from a mattress inside the chamber. The expert said static electricity may then have produced a spark, which became a flash fire in the oxygen-rich environment. The child was incinerated within seconds, according to the report. Mosteller had faced a possible sentence of up to 15 years. He is one of four former Oxford Center employees charged in connection with Cooper’s death. The other three had not yet gone to trial when Mosteller was sentenced. The center’s founder and chief executive, Tamela Peterson, and facility manager Gary Marken were charged with second-degree murder. Marken also faces an involuntary manslaughter charge. Aleta Moffitt, who was operating the chamber when it exploded, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and with intentionally entering false medical information on a medical chart. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves placing a person in a pressurized chamber and delivering pure oxygen. The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the chambers for marketing as safe and effective for 13 disorders, including severe burns, decompression sickness and non-healing wounds. The treatment has also drawn controversy as its use has expanded. Cooper’s parents filed a $100 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the Oxford Center and the chamber’s manufacturer.