Andrea Luncsford, Peoria, Illinois woman leaves one month old baby boy, Crayson to die in back of hot U-haul pick up truck for more than 4 hours as she now faces criminal charges.
An Illinois mother has been charged with the hot car death of her one month old baby after the infant was found un-responsive in the back of a U-haul pick up truck in what Peoria authorities described as the child having been left for an ‘extended period.’
Andrea Luncsford, 25, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with endangering the health and life of a child, the Peoria Police Department stated in a Facebook release. Her son, Grayson Luncsford, was found dead Monday night, just on 7.03pm, WCBU reported.
The cause of death of the infant boy was due to as severe dehydration and hyperthermia according to an autopsy report.
‘No air conditioning, no ventilation, no nutrition, no hydration…’
The infant was pulled from a pickup truck and placed into a yard by his grandfather that evening where first responders found the boy, WOWT reported.
Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said evidence from an autopsy Tuesday suggested the one month old had been left in a vehicle without food or water for an ‘extended period.’
The boy had been dead for ‘quite some time,’ Harwood said after police were called following the discovery of the non-responsive baby.
He said it was difficult to determine how long the boy had been dead or how long he was left in the car.
‘When you have an infant or a kid in a car for any amount of time in this heat, the outcome is going to be as it is right now today, which is we have the death of a 1-month-old who has died because they were in a car with no air conditioning, no ventilation, no nutrition, no hydration,” Harwood said.
Left inside hot truck for more than 4 hours
Harwood told WOWT he was angry over the child’s death cause the infant boy’s death was preventable.
Authorities said Grayson was left inside the truck for more than four hours.
Of note, Luncsford has a criminal record dating back to 2019 where she has faced charges of aggravated battery of a peace officer on three previous occasions.
According to NoHeatStroke.org, 33 children have died after being left in a vehicle with no air so far this year. Twenty-nine children died that way in all of last year.
