Tragic twist in case of newborn baby boy found dead in hot car as mother faces murder charge

The case against an Illinois mother charged with leaving her newborn son in a hot car to die took a shocking turn as the coroners office revealed his cause of death.

One-month-old Grayson Luncsford died from cocaine intoxication , but also suffered from heat stress, dehydration, malnutrition and neglect, reported WMBD .

'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,' the report said.

His mother, Andrea Luncsford, has been indicted on charges of murder and endangering the life and health of a child.

Police found the baby in a U-Haul truck rented by his mother. The autopsy revealed he had been dead for 12 to 24 hours.

Andrea, a 26-year-old OnlyFans model, had been driving the vehicle for days after the funeral of Grayson's father on September 14, 25 News reported.

The mother reportedly admitted to being alone with the baby for most of the day and fed him several bottles, including one she propped up on the car seat so he 'could feed himself.'

Grandmother Tonya Luncsford beamed with joy as she held baby Grayson up for the camera in a photo posted to her Facebook account a week before his death.

Grayson's grandfather begged his daughter to leave the child with his grandparents only hours before the infant was found dead.

'You know that baby can overheat and die, please let us help you, from dad to mom,' he texted his daughter, according to Fox 2 News .

Grandfather Andrew Luncsford tracked his daughter down to a home in Peoria's East Bluff, where he found his grandson unconscious and not breathing in the truck on September 16.

He called emergency responders, who found Grayson lying in the grass of a yard and tried to revive him before declaring him dead at the scene.

When police arrived, they found Grayson's mother behaving 'erratically,' and she later tested positive for cocaine.

Andrew told police that his daughter had ignored his messages that day before telling him that the baby had stopped breathing.

When the grandparents arrived, he said she tried to drive off before they could take the baby out of the van.

The mother, who has a criminal record dating back to 2019, had already been taken into custody on suspicion of endangering Grayson. She was spoken to by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services on September 6.

The agency had launched an investigation into 'substantial risk of physical injury or environment,' according to spokesperson Deborah Lopez.

Andrea pleaded not guilty to the charges and remains in the Peoria County Jail. Her next court date is scheduled for November.