A one-month-old baby who died after his mom left him inside a hot car actually passed away from cocaine intoxication, it has been revealed.
The Peoria County Coroner’s Office announced on Tuesday that Grayson Luncsford had enough cocaine in his body that it was “the immediate cause of death.” The infant had also suffered heat stress, dehydration, malnutrition, and neglect.
On the evening of September 16, police responded to reports of a dead baby in North Peoria, Illinois.
The baby had been pulled from a U-Haul pickup truck by a family member and was unresponsive and not breathing, reported Fox2Now.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the autopsy, Grayson had been dead for 12 to 24 hours before he was found.
The baby’s mother Andrea Luncsford, 26, was arrested and charged with murder and endangering the health and life of a child. She has been held in Peoria County Jail since.
Peoria Police and the PCCO are still investigating how the cocaine entered Grayson’s system.
On the day of Grayson’s death, witnesses said they saw the truck parked on the street with its windows rolled up for hours, Fox2Now reported.
Luncsford’s father told investigators his daughter had called him “all day” asking for gas money, reported 25NewsNow. When he refused, he reportedly texted her saying: “You know that baby can overheat and die. Please let us help you.”
Following Grayson’s death, Luncsford allegedly admitted to investigators that she had a “$20 a day crack usage habit” and that, on that day, she had propped up Grayson’s bottles in his car seat so the one-month-old could “feed himself”, the outlet reported.
It has since emerged that the Department of Children and Family Services had tried to contact Luncsford just days earlier on September 6 over concerns that there was “a substantial risk to a child”, according to WCIA. Agency spokesperson Heather Tarczan told the outlet they had made “several” attempts to visit the 26-year-old’s home.
Records from Peoria County Circuit Court, seen by WCIA, show that Luncsford previously lost parental rights to a different one-year-old child in 2022.
The 26-year-old – who has a criminal record including aggravated battery charges – first came to the attention of child services in 2021 when that child was born and both mom and baby tested positive for cocaine. That child has since been adopted, reported WCIA.
According to her Facebook page, Luncsford worked as an OnlyFans model and moved to Chicago from South Carolina earlier this year.
She was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday afternoon (17 October) with the next hearing scheduled for October 9, reported 25NewsNow.
If convicted, she faces up to 100 years in prison.
The Independent contacted the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office and the PCCO for comment.
