Four people were arrested and accused on Monday in relation to the death of a 5 -year -old boy who died in a hyperbaric chamber in Michigan this year, police said.
Thomas Cooper died in a burning explosion on January 31 while receiving treatment at Oxford Center, an alternative medicine center in the Troy Suburb in Detroit.
The founder and director of Oxford Center, Tamela Peterson, was one of the people arrested in Thomas’s death. Peterson and two other people were accused of second -degree murder, while a fourth person was accused of involuntary homicide and placing false information in medical records, as shown in judicial documents.
Gerald Gleeson II, Peterson’s lawyer, refused to comment on his arrest on Monday night.
The lawyers could not be located immediately for Gary Marken or Jeffrey Mosteller, the other two accused of second degree murder, who seem to have director titles, according to the websites of Oxford Center Company.
A lawyer for the fourth accused person, fin Moffitt, declined to comment.
Moffitt was accused of involuntary homicide and counterfeit information; His lawyer, Ellen Michaels, did not say what Moffitt’s work was in the center.
The four defendants are scheduled to be prosecuted on Tuesday, said a Troy Police spokesman.
Sam Vitale, a lawyer who represents Oxford Center, did not immediately respond to a request for comments from NBC News. In a statement to WXYZ-TV of Detroit on Monday night, the Oxford center said: “After cooperating with multiple investigations that begin immediately after the tragic accident in January, we are disappointed to see the charges presented.”
The company said it was surprised by the charges because “the typical protocol after an accident related to the fire has not yet been completed” and because there are “outstanding questions” about how the incident occurred.
Thomas’s parents have not spoken publicly since their son, died and refused to comment on Monday about the arrests. His lawyer, James Harrington, has told NBC News that Thomas’s parents had led him to receive multiple hyperbaric oxygena sessions for sleep apnea and attention deficit disorder/hyperactivity in the center of Oxford and that his mother, Annie Cooper, was burned on her arm when she went to the camera to try to save her son after the fire after the fire after the fire after the fire.
Harrington said the family plans to file a lawsuit even after Monday’s criminal charges and added that “it was not surprised” by arrests.
“This is a very, very atrocious case,” Harrington said in a telephone interview.
Vitale told NBC News last month that Oxford Center had been cooperating with the investigation.
“The security and well -being of the children we serve is our highest priority. We are participating in the investigations that are still being carried out to determine how this happened, ”he said in a statement sent by email on February 19.
Hyperbaric oxygenapia, which implies administering 100% oxygen in a pressurized chamber and tubel stop, is eliminated by the administration of food and medicines to treat a handful of conditions, including carbon monoxide poisoning, certain wounds and burns and decompression diseases in divers.
The FDA regulates certain hyperbaric chambers that meet its definition of class II medical devices, which “are intended for use in the diagnosis of diseases or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of the disease.”
In recent years, unproven facilities, such as spas and well -being centers, have begun to promote hyperbaric oxygenapia for various health problems.
The Oxford Center, which has two locations in Michigan, says that it deals with more than 100 conditions, including autism, Alzheimer’s, dyslexia and cancer. FDA does not recognize hyperbaric oxygenapia for these conditions.
Thomas’s parents, who live in Royal Oak, Michigan, are “absolutely horrible” since his son died, Harrington said Monday.
“Under no circumstances should this happen,” he said.
