A boy who was only one month old had so much cocaine in him that it killed him “immediately.”
Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said on September 16, just a few hours after the boy was found dead, that Grayson Luncsford also had heat stress, was dehydrated, wasn’t getting enough food, and had been neglected.
He said at the time that the boy had been dead for a while and had been hurt from being in a hot car for too long.
Since then, Luncsford has been in county jail. She was charged with murder and putting a child’s life and health in danger on Tuesday. If she is found guilty, she could spend up to 100 years in jail.
On September 16, just after 7 p.m., cops in Peoria were called to the 2400 block of North Peoria Avenue because a baby was found dead. That’s close to where East Archer Avenue meets other streets.
The child was pulled out of the car by a family member, but Harwood said the child had already died. He thought the baby had been dead for a few hours. At the time, he said that the person had died from being too hot and not drinking enough water.
For example, lab tests showed that the baby had a lot of cocaine in his or her system, which led to the conclusion that cocaine poisoning was the immediate cause of death.
The coroner said that heat stress, dehydration, malnutrition, and abuse were all fatal even when cocaine wasn’t present.
Harwood said that the Peoria Police Department and the Peoria County Coroner’s Office are still looking into how the cocaine got into the baby’s system.