Brit lady shot lifeless by dad in ‘Trump row’ as coroner says gun ‘did not simply go off’

The death of a woman who was shot by her father at his home in Texas after a “row about Donald Trump” has been ruled as an unlawful killing. Lucy Harrison had been visiting with her boyfriend Sam Littler on January 10 when she was fatally shot from “medium range” just hours before she was due to fly home.

The pair, who had just bought their first home in Warrington, had arrived at Kris Harrison’s home on December 28.. According to a medical report, Lucy was shot in the chest by another person, with five witnesses present in the property.

During an inquest into her death at Cheshire Coroner’s Court in Warrington, it was heard how Lucy’s father Kris had taken her by the hand into his bedroom shortly before he was due to drive her and Sam to the airport.

Sam told the court how around 15 seconds later he heard a bang before Mr Harrison shouted his wife Heather’s name. Sam, Mrs Harrison, her two daughters and a neighbour who was in the property ran to the downstairs bedroom where they discovered Lucy on the floor.

The court was told how Mr Harrison had drank 500ml of vintage chardonnay without his family’s knowledge, with him claiming to have retrieved his 9mm Glock handgun from its case, taken from his bedside cabinet beneath a pile of books, and as he raised the weapon it went off and fatally wounded his daughter.

Whilst it’s acknowledged he had been drinking alcohol, he maintained he was not “under the influence”, though it emerged he was an alcoholic. Testimony from Lucy’s mate Ella Gowing revealed that Lucy had confided how Mr Harrison had previously experienced an alcoholic seizure before being put into an induced coma in 2023 and subsequently admitted to a rehabilitation centre, reports the Liverpool Echo.

A grand jury in Texas comprises 12 individuals who decide whether there’s reasonable grounds to believe someone committed a serious crime, examining all evidence behind closed doors. Last year, they ruled noone would face prosecution.

Even if the person suspected of the offence has been charged by police, they remain unnamed should the grand jury choose to end criminal proceedings.

As senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish outlined the case details, she stated: “Texas police failed to take any blood or perform breath testing. Lucy was tested for alcohol, drugs and prescription medication and she was clean. I considered the bullet in the chamber of the gun. I accept that Kris Harrison did not load the magazine into the handgun.

“I accept that he did not know the gun was loaded. I do not accept that the gun just went off as he removed it from the box – this is due to the room lay out and location Lucy’s body was found.

“To shoot her through the chest whilst she was standing would have required him to have been pointing the gun at his daughter without checking for bullets and pulling the trigger.

“I find this action to be reckless. Was the death intentional or accidental? His actions have killed his own daughter and in the cold light of day I hope he recognises the risks he posed to her life.”

She went on to state that she believed Mr Harrison had been consuming alcohol throughout the morning after he admitted to drinking before his daughters awoke. He subsequently bought two cartons of wine at a 7/11 shop after telling his family he was going to collect biscuits. He consumed one of the two cartons before driving home.

Delivering her verdict today, February 11, senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish said: “[Kris Harrison] was a functioning alcoholic who had been drinking and driving that day with immediate plans to drive Lucy and Sam to the airport.

“Whilst I accept there was lack of intent for the reasons stated, I do find that his actions were truly, exceptionally bad and reprehensible to amount to gross negligence. Lucy Harrison died due to unlawful killing on the grounds of gross negligence manslaughter.”

In evidence from Mr Harrison, read on behalf to the court due to his absence from proceedings, it said while others sat on the couch, Mr Harrison said he and Lucy spent time alone.

In his statement read to the court, he said: “Lucy and I moved to the kitchen area and watched a news segment about gun crime in the US. We began chatting generally about the segment.

“I then said that I had a gun, ‘do you want to see it?’ and she did. We went to the bedroom where I had the gun.”

He continued to say he had never had any “formal training” and had “never fired a gun”, with the dad having bought the firearm from a colleague at work. He said: “As I lifted the gun to show her I suddenly heard a loud bang. I didn’t understand what happened in that moment but Lucy suddenly fell to the ground.”

He continued: “I lost my daughter and my best friend, there is not a day that goes by where I do not relive these events.”

Despite an exit wound being identified on the body of Lucy, no bullet was ever recovered from the scene, and the house was handed back to Mr Harrison later that day.

Earlier in proceedings, Lucy’s mum, boyfriend and friend all spoke of her views against bearing arms, with a statement from her friend Ella Gowing stating: “She was concerned for her younger siblings, she did not want them to be around something so dangerous.

“She said that there was some volatility in Kris’s household which Lucy witnessed when she visited the States and [which] made her feel extremely anxious. She talked about these worries to me.”

When mum Jane Coates spoke at the inquest, she was asked what her daughter had been like. She said: “It’s so hard to answer that with words. To capture the essence of her you had to see her to believe her – she was a force of life, sensitive, energetic, intelligent, funny and a really great human being.”

She revealed her daughter had sent her a text message just 15 minutes before she was shot to say she was packed and ready to travel back to the UK.

She said Lucy had previously voiced her concerns for her younger siblings and did not want them being around guns.

Jane added: “She was not happy he had a gun – Lucy was anti-guns, guns are not our culture and she did not like him having a gun in the house.”

In testimony given by Lucy’s partner, Sam Littler, he said: “There was a big argument that morning, it was during the time Trump had been inaugurated, off the back of that Kris and Lucy had a big argument and it led to Lucy running upstairs upset.”

Sam said Lucy had asked her dad on the morning of the day she died: “How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I’d been sexually assaulted?” Kris replied that he had two other daughters living with him, so he wouldn’t be that concerned.

Lucy’s partner went after her to “console” her and they then returned outside to play in the snow before their scheduled departure for the airport at approximately 3pm.

Fighting back tears, Sam recalled: “We came in and got changed and got ready to go. We packed up pretty early in the morning. Lucy was emotionally drained, there were lots of ups and downs. We had packed and brought the suitcases down, they were in the garage area.

“We were ready to go half an hour, 45 minutes before [we were due to leave]. She was looking forward to seeing her mum and coming home. I was on the couch with the girls and Heather was at the breakfast table.”

Sam went on to describe how he was positioned on the sofa “with the girls” before Mr Harrison led Lucy by the hand into his bedroom, which was reported to be merely 10-15 paces from the sofa they had occupied near the breakfast table. Sam stated: “The only thing I heard was a loud bang 15 seconds after he took her by the hand.”

He explained that he initially thought it might be a joke, characterising Mr Harrison as “jovial”, but within seconds heard screams of “Heather”.

He went on: “Me and Heather looked at each other and could tell the seriousness of it. I remember running into the room and Lucy was on the floor near the entrance to the bathroom and Kris was screaming nonsense, in my recollection of it. He was screaming ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, call 911’.”

Ms Devonish stated earlier in proceedings how Mr Harrison had previously lied to police about his drinking after shooting his daughter at his home in Prosper.

Ms Devonish said: “When I received the police statement he had lied about his drinking and had not admitted to being an alcoholic.”

Mr Harrison’s counsel, Ana Samuel, told the court how her client had not misled police and there was no indication of that.

Lucy’s mum, Jane Coates, paid tribute to her daughter and said: “It’s so hard to capture who she was, and who she still is, using words because they just don’t come close.

“She was full of energy and life, and she was bold and brave. She was so emotionally intelligent, she was able to feel everything and she wasn’t ashamed of feeling everything.”