Expert cites static spark from sheet as cause of flash fire

Jeffrey Mosteller, 66, a former safety manager at the Oxford Center alternative healthcare facility in Troy, Michigan, was sentenced Monday to one year and seven months in prison in Oakland County circuit court. He had faced up to 15 years in prison under the original charge of involuntary manslaughter, to which he pleaded no contest, The Guardian reported.

Cooper, five, of Royal Oak, Michigan, died at the Oxford Center in the Detroit suburb of Troy in January 2025 while undergoing treatment for ADHD and sleep apnea. According to an expert who viewed video of the incident, the child squirmed enough to pull a sheet off a mattress inside the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, producing a static-electricity spark that ignited a flash fire in the oxygen-rich environment and incinerated him within seconds. Cooper’s mother suffered severe burns on her arms and chest while trying to open the chamber during the fire.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared hyperbaric chambers as safe and effective for 13 specific disorders, including severe burns, decompression sickness and non-healing wounds. The therapy works by delivering pure oxygen to a patient inside a pressurized chamber. The Oxford Center treats patients for conditions that include autism, ADHD and autoimmune diseases, according to The Guardian.

Mosteller is one of four former Oxford Center employees charged in connection with the boy’s death. Oxford Center founder and chief executive Tamela Peterson, 58, has been charged with second-degree murder. Facility manager Gary Marken, 65, faces charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Aleta Moffitt, 60, who was operating the chamber when it caught fire, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false medical information on a medical records chart. The other three were awaiting trial at the time of Mosteller’s sentencing.

Cooper’s parents have filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against the clinic and the chamber’s manufacturer, according to The Guardian.