Illinois coroner: 1-month-old baby died due to ‘cocaine intoxication’

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A one-month-old boy had enough cocaine in its body that it was the “immediate” cause of death.

Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said Grayson Luncsford did also suffer from heat stress, dehydration, malnutrition, and neglect as indicated on Sept. 16, just a few hours after the boy was found dead.

At the time, Harwood had said Grayson had been dead for a while and had suffered due to being in a hot car for too long.

His mother, Andrea Luncsford has been at the county jail since then. She was indicted Tuesday on charges of murder and endangering the life and health of a child. She faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted.

The charges allege Luncsford failed to provide basic nutrition and care in that she left the baby in the vehicle.

Just after 7 p.m., Sept. 16, Peoria police were called the 2400 block of North Peoria Avenue on a report of a dead baby. That’s near the intersection of East Archer Avenue.

A relative pulled the child out of the rented U-Haul pickup truck but he had already died, said Harwood, who estimated the baby had been dead for a few hours. At the time, he said the cause of death was dehydration and hyperthermia.

But toxicology testing indicated “that the presence and quantity of cocaine in the baby’s system were significant enough to conclude that cocaine intoxication was the IMMEDIATE cause of death.

Even without the presence of cocaine, heat stress, dehydration, malnutrition, and neglect were also terminal conditions, the coroner said.

The mode of entry of the cocaine into the infant’s system remains under investigation by the Peoria Police Department and the Peoria County Coroner’s Office, Harwood said.

What allegedly happened that day

Residents on North Peoria Avenue said the U-Haul pickup truck that had a dead baby inside had been parked in a driveway for several hours and the windows had been rolled up.

Also, the mother of dead boy, admitted she was alone with the child for the better of the day and that she had fed him several bottles, leaving one propped up in the 1-month-old’s car seat so he “could fed himself,” a prosecutor said.

At a hearing earlier this year , the prosecutor described a chaotic scene that night where Luncsford’s father and brother had to block her from leaving the home on North Peoria Avenue. Her father, the prosecutor said, banged on the window and when she stopped, he opened the door and screamed, “you killed my grandbaby.”

And almost prophetically, police found a text message from her father to her imploring her to leave the baby with them. The text message said, “You know that baby can overheat and die, please let us help you, from dad to mom.”

This story will be updated.

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