TROY (WWJ) -- Testimony resumed on Monday in a hearing for four defendants charged in the death or a 5-year-old boy, who was killed in an explosion in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
Tamela Peterson, Founder and CEO of The Oxford Center in Troy, and three employees returned to District Court on Dec. 1 for a preliminary exam.
Peterson, as well as safety manager Jeffrey Mosteller, and management assistant Gary Marken, are charged with second-degree murder in the death of Thomas Cooper.
A fourth person, Aleta Moffitt — who was operating the hyperbaric chamber the day of Thomas' death — is charged with involuntary manslaughter, and intentionally placing false information on a records chart.
The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.
During initial court testimony last September, former employee Tiffany Hosey said she expressed concern to Peterson prior to the explosion. She said operators were not using "grounding straps" on patients, as a safety measure, while operating the chambers.
"I was told that I was uneducated an ill-informed," Hosey said.
Cooper was killed last January when the chamber he was in caught fire and exploded during an oxygen therapy session.
His mother was also severely burned in the incident.
The Oxford Center, which also operated an outlet in Brighton, advertised hyperbaric oxygen therapy for children with autism, ADHD and autoimmune diseases.
In filing the charges, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the clinic put children at unnecessary and serious risk in the name of profit.
"This was an unscrupulous business, operating powerful machines beyond their manufacturer's intended term of use, on children's bodies, over and over again, to provide unaccredited and debunked so-called treatments — chiefly, because it brought cash into the door," Nessel said.
According to a GoFundMe set up to raise money for the Thomas' family, he will be remembered as a loving child, whose favorite activities included running, swimming and playing video games. More than $71,500 has been donated toward a $75,000 goal.