Attorneys request new court date in fatal Michigan hyperbaric chamber explosion
A probable cause hearing for the CEO of the Oxford Center in Troy, Michigan, and three other employees was moved to a later date after attorneys said that much evidence still needed to be reviewed.
The four people, including CEO Tamela Peterson, were back in court Wednesday afternoon. Their defense attorneys requested another probable cause hearing to further review the evidence.
"The purpose of that request is because of the amount of materials the Attorney General and the Troy Police Department have given us so far, and I expect, based on conversations with Mr. Kessel (Assistant Attorney General Chris Kessel), that there will be additional information, and we'd like the opportunity to digest that prior to beginning of preliminary examinations," Peterson's attorney, Gerald Gleason, said in court.
Peterson remains behind bars on a $2 million cash bond and is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter after a 5-year-old boy was killed in a hyperbaric chamber explosion. Another person, manager Jeffrey Mostellar, also remains in jail, while the two other defendants, Aletta Moffitt and Gary Markin, have since posted bond and are wearing a tether.
According to court documents, some of the evidence that investigators submitted revealed that Peterson and other staff members allegedly failed to implement safety measures repeatedly in the hyperbaric chambers before allowing 5-year-old Thomas Cooper to get inside one.
The chamber exploded on Jan. 31, killing the boy and injuring his mother.
Peterson also allegedly concealed evidence by deleting files on her laptop. The Michigan Attorney General's office, which investigated the incident, alleged that a safety grounding strap was not used on the child.
The judge scheduled another probable cause hearing for next week.
