Tamela Peterson
A Detroit Free Press story paints an unflattering picture of Tamela Peterson, the CEO of the Oxford Center in Troy, charged in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber death involving 5-year-old Thomas Cooper, who burned aliive on Jan. 31.
The Freep reports:
Tamela Peterson, the CEO of the Oxford Center in Troy, ran away from detectives when they asked for her cellphone and had her son scrub her laptop days after 5-year-old Thomas Cooper was burned alive inside one of the center’s hyperbaric oxygen chambers on Jan. 31, Troy Police say.
Still, police found electronic messages on Peterson's devices, said Detective Danielle Trigger, including an exchange in which Peterson sent photos of the boy’s burning body and wrote “something to the effect of: ‘If my leg was on fire, I would at least try to hit it and put it out. He just laid there and did nothing.’ ”
Peterson's messages also show that when she was asked whether the company was promoting hyperbaric chambers to treat erectile dysfunction, she responded: "Whatever gets bodies in those chambers, lol," according to a transcript of Trigger's March 7 testimony before 52-4 District Court Magistrate Elizabeth Chiappelli, which was obtained by the Detroit Free Press.
Peterson, 58, of Brighton, faces second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges, along with the Oxford Center’s operations director, Gary Marken, 65, of Spring Arbor, and its safety and training director, Jeffrey Mosteller, 64, of Clinton Township.
Aleta Harward Moffitt, 60, of Rochester Hills, who operated the chamber that day is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information on a medical record.
“This tragedy could have been prevented if proper safety protocols were followed,” Attorney Dana Nessel said in a statement. “Instead, deliberate negligence and a blatant disregard for safety cost a child his life."
