“THIS IS ARROGANCE”: SAFETY DIRECTOR SENTENCED AFTER 5-YEAR-OLD BOY DIES IN HYPERBARIC CHAMBER FIRE

A 5-year-old boy was undergoing treatment when a fire erupted inside a hyperbaric chamber. Now, the facility’s former safety director is going to prison — and a judge says the tragedy was preventable.

A Michigan courtroom delivered a stark message this week after the death of 5-year-old Thomas Cooper.

Jeffrey Mosteller, the former safety director at the Oxford Center in Troy, Michigan, was sentenced to 19 months to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter in connection with Thomas’ death.

But the sentence was only part of the story.

During the hearing, Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwamé Rowe sharply criticized the safety failures that preceded the tragedy.

“This is arrogance,” Rowe said, describing what he viewed as the decision to disregard established safety requirements.

A ROUTINE TREATMENT TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE

On January 31, 2025, Thomas was inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber at the Oxford Center when the chamber suddenly caught fire and exploded.

The 5-year-old had been receiving treatment for sleep apnea and ADHD.

His mother was nearby when the emergency unfolded.

According to the family’s attorney, she suffered burns to her arms as she desperately tried to rescue her son.

She could not get him out.

Thomas died inside the chamber.

What investigators uncovered afterward raised serious questions about how the facility was operating.

THE SAFETY DEVICE THAT WASN’T BEING USED

One of the central issues was a grounding strap.

The straps are designed to safely discharge static electricity and reduce the risk of a spark — a critical precaution when oxygen concentrations are elevated.

Prosecutors said the Oxford Center was not using the required grounding straps during treatments.

They also said safety protocols from the National Fire Protection Association and the chamber’s manufacturer, Sechrist, were not being followed.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office argued that the precautions were not optional.

They were designed specifically to prevent the kind of danger that ultimately claimed Thomas’ life.

“IT WAS INCUMBENT UPON YOU TO SAY SOMETHING”

During sentencing, Judge Rowe directly addressed Mosteller’s responsibility as the facility’s safety director.

The judge said Mosteller should have spoken up and insisted that the grounding straps were necessary.

Prosecutors went even further.

Assistant Michigan Attorney General Chris Kessel argued that the decision-making process effectively placed the judgment of individuals above the expertise of doctors, scientists, engineers and safety professionals.

The result, he said, was devastating.

A child died.

THE DEFENSE: “HE DIDN’T THINK HE WAS PUTTING THOMAS’ LIFE IN DANGER”

Mosteller’s attorney, Alona Sharon, acknowledged that her client failed to correct the facility’s safety practice.

But she argued that the decision not to use grounding straps had been made before Mosteller began working at the center.

She also emphasized that Mosteller had developed a relationship with Thomas during his treatments.

According to his attorney, he cared deeply about the boy and had no intention of putting him in danger.

Still, the defense acknowledged that failing to correct the safety issue was a “horrific mistake” with devastating consequences.

THOMAS’ FAMILY COULDN’T FACE THE SENTENCING

Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking details from the hearing was the absence of Thomas’ family.

They did not attend the sentencing and did not submit a victim-impact statement.

A prosecutor told the court that the family simply could not bring themselves to publicly revisit the tragedy.

The pain, prosecutors said, remains too great.

HE IS THE FIRST — BUT NOT THE LAST

Mosteller is the first of four people connected to the Oxford Center to face criminal consequences in Thomas’ death.

Three others still have pending cases.

They include Oxford Center CEO Tamela Peterson, operations director Gary Marken and chamber operator Aleta Moffitt.

Prosecutors have charged Peterson and Marken with second-degree murder and alternative counts of involuntary manslaughter. Moffitt faces an involuntary manslaughter charge and an allegation involving false information in a medical record.

Those cases remain pending, meaning the defendants have not been convicted of those charges.

A separate civil lawsuit filed by Thomas’ family is also ongoing.

A TRAGEDY THAT NEVER HAD TO HAPPEN?

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel previously described Thomas’ death as a completely preventable tragedy.

That idea now hangs over the entire case.

A little boy entered a medical facility for treatment.

He never came home.

His mother was injured trying to save him.

And now a former safety director is behind bars after admitting, through his no-contest plea, criminal responsibility for the circumstances surrounding Thomas’ death.

The courtroom has delivered its first sentence.

But three other cases remain.

And for Thomas’ family, no prison term can change what happened on January 31, 2025.

A 5-year-old went in for treatment. A safety protocol was ignored. And within moments, an ordinary medical session became a tragedy that would change an entire family forever.