British graduate, 23, was shot dead by her alcoholic father in bedroom of his Texas home hours after they had argued about Donald Trump, inquest hears
A British graduate who was passionately anti-guns was shot dead by her alcoholic father at his Texas home just hours after they had an argument about Donald Trump, an inquest was told today.
Lucy Harrison, 23, from Warrington, Cheshire, was killed as she prepared to fly home on January 10, 2025 following a post-Christmas break accompanied by her boyfriend.
A police report found she died of a gunshot wound to the heart after being ‘shot by another person’ from a ‘medium range’ at the house in Prosper, Texas, but a grand jury found that no one should be prosecuted.
Speaking at the time, her mother, Jane Coates, described the decision as ‘baffling’ and ‘beyond comprehension’.
Today at an inquest into her death it emerged for the first time that Ms Harrison was fatally shot by her father in a bedroom at the property, and that no-one else was present.
She was ‘categorically anti-gun’ and had previously expressed concerns that it was unsafe for her father – who had remarried – to have a firearm in the house with his young daughters around, it was told.
He suffered an ‘alcoholic seizure’ in 2023 which left him in an induced coma, the inquest was told, later going into rehab before suffering a ‘relapse’ in 2024, but had ‘lied’ to police in Texas about his drink problem.
Giving evidence, her boyfriend Sam Littler said she had argued with her father about Donald Trump on the morning of her death. The then President-elect was sentenced that day to an unconditional discharge following his conviction over ‘hush money’ paid to adult-film star Stormy Daniels.
A manslaughter investigation was launched after Lucy Harrison (pictured), 23, from Warrington, Cheshire, was killed at her father’s house in Prosper, Texas, on January 10, 2025
Today at an inquest into her death it emerged for the first time that Ms Harrison was fatally shot by her father (pictured together)
She was visiting her father, Kris Harrison, who lives in Texas (Pictured: Kris Harrison’s home)
Heartbreaking photos show Lucy playing in the snow with her half-siblings and boyfriend just hours before the tragedy occurred
Bodycam footage of police arriving at the house following the shooting showed Mr Harrison saying the gun ‘went off’ as he was showing it to her daughter.
‘We were getting ready to go to the airport and we were talking about guns,’ he tells the officer as a shocked-looking Mr Littler stands with his hands behind the back of his neck.
‘I got it out and it just went off as she stood there,’ Mr Harrison continued.
‘It was in the bedside cabinet in a locked box. I took it out to look and it just went off.’
In her own statement, Mr Harrison’s wife Heather said she ‘heard a bang’ from the master bedroom. She ran in and he said: ‘Call 911.’
Mrs Harrison said her husband told her: ‘Lucy and I were just looking at my gun because she wanted to see it before they left. I picked it up and it went off.’
In their evidence, Ms Harrison’s boyfriend and mother insisted she would not have been interested in seeing her father’s gun.
In his own written statement, Mr Harrison – who is not attending the hearing – said he had drunk a 500ml carton of white wine that morning.
After finishing it he dumped the empty container in a bin beside a 7/11 store.
But he said he believed he had finished drinking it before 10am and was not impaired by alcohol when his daughter was shot shortly before 3pm.
Speaking at the time of her daughter’s death, her mother, Jane Coates (pictured arriving at the inquest today), described the decision as ‘baffling’ and ‘beyond comprehension’
Giving evidence at the inquest today, her boyfriend Sam Littler (pictured, arriving at court today) said she had argued with her father about Donald Trump on the morning of her death
Lucy was found dead at the home of her father Kris (pictured) who works for a fibre optics firm in the States
Mr Harrison said he bought the 9mm Glock handgun as a ‘home defence’ weapon, meaning he did not need a licence as long as he did not take it out in public.
He had ‘no prior experience and no formal training’ over firearms, he said.
Mr Harrison said he and Lucy had been watching a ‘news segment’ about gun crime shortly before her planned departure.
‘I said to her ‘I have a gun, do you want to see it? She did, and so I went to the bedroom where I kept my gun.’
Mr Harrison said the gun – which he had never previously fired – had bullets in the magazine, but he did not believe there were any in the chamber.
‘As I lifted the gun to show her, I suddenly heard a loud bang. I didn’t understand what had happened. Lucy immediately fell to the ground.’
‘I was not under the influence at the time of the accident,’ Mr Harrison said in his statement.
‘I would have said if I had consumed an amount of alcohol that affected me.’
Mr Harrison said he and his daughter were ‘best friends’ and that it was always an ’emotional’ day when she prepared to fly home to the UK.
‘She meant the world to me.’
He added: ‘There is not a day that goes by when I don’t relive those events and I will carry the weight of those events to my grave.’
The inquest into Lucy Harrison (pictured) is being held at Cheshire Coroner’s Court
Lucy (pictured) had been due to fly back to Manchester on the day she was shot after spending Christmas in the States
In a statement read to the hearing, Officer Luciano Escalera, who attended the scene, said he smelt ‘metabolised alcohol’ on Mr Harrison’s breath and asked him if he had been drinking.
He said Mr Harrison initially said he hadn’t drunk alcohol since the day before.
But he then said confessed to being an alcoholic, with Officer Escalera taking his gestures to mean he ‘continuously drinks throughout the day’.
He said Mr Harrison then said he had drunk a ‘small’ carton of wine which he had finished at about 2pm, around 45 minutes before the shooting.
Meanwhile, Ms Harrison’s boyfriend, Mr Littler had no concerns that Mr Harrison had been drinking that day, although he said he ‘always felt on edge’ when they visited.
‘There was a lot of very opinionated people in the house.’
Twice that morning Mr Harrison had driven alone to the shops, saying he needed to buy food for lunch and insisting no-one accompanied him as the snowy roads were ‘dangerous’.
But Mr Littler said he did not see any alcohol brought into the house.
As they prepared to set off shortly before 3pm, Mr Harrison took his daughter by the hand in a ‘mysterious’ manner without saying anything and led her into his downstairs bedroom, Mr Littler said.
He was aware that the handgun was kept in a cabinet in that bedroom but had never seen it.
Within 15 seconds, Mr Littler heard a ‘loud bang’ from the bedroom which he initially thought was a ‘prank’ by Mr Harrison.
But on hearing Mr Harrison ‘screaming’, he and Mr Harrison’s wife Heather ‘darted’ into the room and found Lucy collapsed on the floor.
His voice cracking with emotion, Mr Littler said he called 911, spotting a gun on the corner of the bed while he was on the line.
However he was unaware at this stage that she had been shot, he said.
Mr Harrison had previously spoken to him about taking his gun out of its case on seeing an outside security light come on and walking around ‘like James Bond’, only for the ‘intruder’ to be a racoon, Mr Littler said.
He was unaware whether Mr Harrison had received firearms training.
In a statement read to the court, Ms Harrison’s friend Ella Gowing said she had ‘confided’ in her about her father’s ‘drink problem’.
She had also expressed concern about ‘volatility’ in her father’s home which made her ‘extremely anxious’.
The presence of a gun in the house created an ‘unpredictable environment,’ Ms Gowing added.
When Ms Harrison found out he had bought a gun, she was ‘immediately really upset and disagreed with it’, she said.
‘She could not understand why Kris would bring this into his home.
‘She was categorically anti-gun.’
She was worried about her younger half-sisters, she added.
‘She did not want them to be around something so dangerous.’
Earlier Ms Coates became tearful when she gave her own evidence about her daughter’s fatal holiday.
A tribute from Lucy’s mother and boyfriend (pictured together), released by Cheshire Police, said: ‘Lucy was life. She lived it fiercely and fearlessly, not being afraid to feel all that life has to offer’
She said Lucy was ‘not happy’ that her father had a gun in the house, but there had been no specific incidents giving cause for concern on her visits.
She said Mr Harrison could become ‘bold’ while under the influence of alcohol.
Ms Coates said: ‘She was not happy that he’d got a gun. She didn’t like him having a gun in the house.’
Ms Coates said she last heard from her daughter 15 minutes before she was shot, at which point she and her boyfriend were ‘packed up and ready to go’.
She and Mr Harrison had split up when their daughter was young, and he had lived in the US since Lucy was ten.
Lucy regularly visited her father and half-sisters in Texas, travelling there two to three times a year once she turned 18.
Paying tribute to her daughter, she described her as ‘a real force of life’.
‘She was sensitive, energetic, intelligent, funny and a really great human being.’
Lucy was ‘passionate about things’ and ‘loved to have debates’, she added.
Today at an inquest into her death it emerged for the first time that Ms Harrison was fatally shot by her father in a bedroom at the property, and that no-one else was present.
It was also told that Mr Harrison had a history of alcoholism and that questions would be raised over his level of training with firearms and whether he knew there was a bullet in the gun.
The circumstances of the fashion buyer’s death were revealed as lawyers representing her father unsuccessfully asked a coroner to step aside from the case, accusing her of being ‘biased’.
Ana Samuel, representing Mr Harrison, accused senior coroner Jacqueline Devonshire of conducting inquiries which were ‘more akin to a criminal investigation’ for allegedly failing to share documents with his lawyers.
But lawyers representing Mrs Coates accused her of staging ‘an ambush’ in an attempt to put off the inquest.
Setting out her arguments at Cheshire coroner’s court, Lois Norris, on behalf of Ms Harrison’s mother, said it was Mr Harrison who had shot his daughter, and was the only person in the bedroom where it happened.
Saying Mr Harrison’s issues with alcohol were relevant to examining what happened, she told the coroner: ‘You’re going to have to deal with the events of how Ms Harrison came to be in the room, and whether alcohol had been consumed.’
Earlier Ms Coates (pictured arriving at the inquest today) became tearful when she gave her own evidence about her daughter’s fatal holiday
Rejecting the application to recuse herself, the coroner said the submissions had failed to provide evidence of bias.
Ms Devonish said Mr Harrison – who is not attending the hearing – had been given ample opportunity to set out his account of what happened and respond to what other witnesses would say.
The coroner added that Mr Harrison had ‘lied’ to police in Texas about his drinking.
Along with her boyfriend, Ms Harrison was visiting her father, who is believed to have family in Southport.
They had been due to fly back to Manchester on the day she was shot after visiting family over the Christmas period.
Tragically she died the day she was shot at 3.47pm local time.
But Prosper Police Department said later that the case had gone through the courts in the US with ‘no prosecution’.
Ms Harrison earned a first-class degree in fashion buying and merchandising at Manchester Metropolitan University before securing her ‘dream job’ at Boohoo as a buyer’s admin assistant.
Speaking last June, Mrs Coates, a deputy manager at a primary school, said: ‘Although we have tried so hard to prepare for this moment, it is a brutal outcome to accept.
‘It is baffling and beyond comprehension to us, our families and friends, that there is to be no accountability for what happened to my daughter.
‘The international element, coupled with a different legal system, practice, and thresholds, makes the outcome even harder and more frustrating to accept.’
She also thanked those around her for their support and said she hopes to engage with groups in Texas working to prevent gun deaths, something she says Lucy would have been a ‘fierce advocate’ for.
An autopsy report from Chester Gwin, MD assistant county medical examiner for Collin County, found she died as a result of a single gunshot wound fired by another person.
It also confirmed Lucy tested negative for alcohol and drugs and was pronounced dead at the Baylor Scott and White Medical Centre in Texas on January 10.
Just hours before being shot she was posing for photographs in the snow.
A tribute from Lucy’s mother and boyfriend, released by Cheshire Police, said: ‘Lucy was life. She lived it fiercely and fearlessly, not being afraid to feel all that life has to offer. Lucy unashamedly loved – she had a huge capacity to love and be loved.
‘She was the embodiment of wonderful contradictions; she adored travel and being away, experiencing new places and cultures, yet at the same time, she loved nothing more than snuggling up in her pyjamas with her candles on at home.
‘She could be dramatic and elaborate situations like it was the end of the world, yet she could also be straight talking and not afraid to have bold conversations.
‘She was truly thriving in life and although this gives us great comfort, we are utterly heartbroken at the loss of our beautiful, gorgeous Luce.’
‘I was not under the influence at the time of the accident,’ Mr Harrison said in his statement.
‘I would have said if I had consumed an amount of alcohol that affected me.’
Mr Harrison said he and his daughter were ‘best friends’ and that it was always an ’emotional’ day when she prepared to fly home to the UK.
‘She meant the world to me.’
He added: ‘There is not a day that goes by when I don’t relive those events and I will carry the weight of those events to my grave.’
In a statement read to the hearing, Officer Luciano Escalera, who attended the scene, said he smelt ‘metabolised alcohol’ on Mr Harrison’s breath and asked him if he had been drinking.
He said Mr Harrison initially said he hadn’t drunk alcohol since the day before.
But he then said confessed to being an alcoholic, with Officer Escalera taking his gestures to mean he ‘continuously drinks throughout the day’.
He said Mr Harrison then said he had drunk a ‘small’ carton of wine which he had finished at about 2pm, around 45 minutes before the shooting.
Ms Harrison’s funeral was held at St Elphin’s Parish Church in Warrington on February 24 last year, with 400 people inside.
‘At Lucy’s funeral, my message to people was for them to continue to live their life fiercely and fearlessly like Lucy did,’ her mother told the Liverpool Echo at the weekend.
‘She wasn’t afraid, she wasn’t afraid to feel.’
The inquest continues.
