The grieving mother of a British graduate tragically shot dead by her own father while visiting his Texas home has called on US detectives to reopen the case amid fears the original investigation was ‘not good enough’.
Jane Coates, 49, from Warrington, Cheshire, believes there are lingering questions over the death of her only child, Lucy, who was fatally shot through the heart just hours before she was due to fly home on January 10, 2025.
According to Jane’s ex-husband, Kris Harrison, the 23-year-old fashion buyer had asked to see his Glock 9mm pistol, which he had not been trained to use, when it ‘just went off’ as he removed the weapon from its case.
Lucy had been on a post-Christmas break in Prosper, Collin County, accompanied by her boyfriend, Sam Littler, when the tragedy occurred.
Police records show that officers were swift to deem her death as accidental, although they did subsequently open an investigation into a potential charge of criminally negligent homicide.
The charge is defined in Texan law as a person who ‘intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence causes the death of an individual’.
A grand jury, comprising 12 civilians, were asked to review the police evidence at a court in Collin County last June to determine if anyone should face a criminal trial, but no charges were brought against Harrison.
Ms Coates described the decision at the time as ‘baffling’ and ‘beyond comprehension’.
The grieving mother of Lucy Harrison, who was shot by her own father, has called on US detectives to reopen the case amid fears the original investigation was ‘not good enough’
Jane Coates, pictured with her daughter’s boyfriend Sam Littler, believes there are lingering questions over the death of Lucy, who was fatally shot through the heart just hours before she was due to fly home in January 2025
Kris Harrison said his daughter had asked to see his Glock 9mm pistol, which he had not been trained to use, when it ‘just went off’ as he removed the weapon from its case
But last month that determination was called into question after an inquest at Cheshire Coroner’s Court concluded Lucy was unlawfully killed by ‘reckless’ Mr Harrison.
The court heard that the ‘functioning alcoholic’ had drunk at least 500ml of wine before deliberately aiming the gun at Lucy’s chest, unaware it was loaded.
Senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish went on to add that the actions of Mr Harrison, an executive at a fibre optics company who had remarried and settled in Texas, had been ‘reprehensible’.
She highlighted how police in Texas had failed to test Mr Harrison for alcohol despite suspecting he had been drinking after smelling it on his breath – and said that under English law his actions would have amounted to gross negligence manslaughter.
Now ahead of facing a second Mother’s Day without Lucy, Ms Coates has called on police to reopen the investigation, claiming they failed to properly investigate the circumstances surrounding her daughter’s death, or probe the inconsistencies in her ex-husband’s account.
While she does not believe he intended to kill their daughter, she feels there could still be a case to answer over his actions and consumption of alcohol that fateful day.
At the inquest in Warrington last month, the court heard how Mr Harrison had been drinking on the morning of the tragedy and that the pair had argued about US President Donald Trump.
Ms Harrison was ‘categorically anti-gun’ and felt it was unsafe for her father to have a firearm in the house with his two young daughters around, the inquest heard.
Giving evidence, her boyfriend said he ‘always felt on edge’ at the house, he added, saying: ‘There was a lot of very opinionated people in the house.’
As they prepared to set off for the airport, he said Mr Harrison took his daughter by the hand in a ‘mysterious’ manner without saying anything.
He then guided her into the downstairs bedroom where the gun was kept in a locked case. Within 15 seconds, Mr Littler heard a ‘loud bang’ from the bedroom and found his girlfriend collapsed on the floor.
He insisted she would not have been interested in seeing her father’s gun.
In his own witness statement read to the court, Mr Harrison – who did not attend the inquest – claimed Lucy daughter agreed to let him show her the weapon after they had watched a television news report about gun crime.
He said he bought the 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’ around firearms, he said.
Mr Harrison suffered an ‘alcoholic seizure’ in 2023 which left him in an induced coma, the inquest was told.
Lucy had been in on a post-Christmas break at her father’s home in Prosper, Collin County, accompanied by her boyfriend, Sam Littler, when the tragedy occurred
He had drunk a 500ml carton of white wine that morning, but did not believe he was impaired by alcohol when his daughter was shot shortly before 3pm.
‘As I lifted the gun to show her, I suddenly heard a loud bang,’ he said in his statement. ‘Lucy immediately fell to the ground.’
Police bodycam footage showed Mr Harrison saying the gun ‘just went off’.
‘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.
‘It was in the bedside cabinet in a locked box. I took it out to look and it just went off.’
In a statement read to the hearing, Officer Luciano Escalera, who was scrambled to the house, said he smelt ‘metabolised alcohol’ on Mr Harrison’s breath at which he initially lied, saying he hadn’t drunk alcohol since the day before.
But he then confessed to having drunk a ‘small’ carton of wine earlier in the day.
Despite his concerns, the police officer did not breathalyse Mr Harrison at the scene or afterwards.
Lucy’s body however was subjected to testing for alcohol, drugs and prescription medication, all with negative results.
It is a contradiction that her mother said has been hurtful to the family as they continue to seek answers.
In an interview with The Times, Coates said: ‘We just couldn’t understand how, given by Kris’s own admission he [had issues with] alcohol, and alcohol had been smelt on his breath, why a blood alcohol concentration test wasn’t given at that time.
‘We will never know actually how much Kris drank that morning as absolute evidence and I just think that’s not good enough.’
Ms Coates believes the police may have drawn different conclusions about the case had they known exactly how much alcohol her ex-husband had consumed at the time of the gun being fired.
She is emboldened by the findings of the coroner that it could be possible to reopen the case – however legal experts believe the likelihood of another investigation after a grand jury has already dismissed the case remains ‘extremely rare’.
When asked how she feels about her ex-husband, Ms Coates described the tragedy as a string between them that had been ‘cut’ and that it was ‘very hard to feel anything’.
She added: ‘The person I want in my mind and in my heart is Lucy.’
Mr Harrison, pictured with Lucy, revealed he had drunk a 500ml carton of white wine that morning, but did not believe he was impaired by alcohol when his daughter was shot at 3pm
Ms Coates previously shared similar sentiments when she revealed she would not let ‘bitterness and hatred’ consume her.
She said at last month’s inquest: ‘Lucy had so much more of life to live, to love, to give. She had a huge sense of right and wrong, and was not afraid to speak out if she saw any type of injustice.
‘Those who really know Lucy’s heart can hear her, loud and clear, and know exactly what she would want us to do moving forward.
‘Make change. Do better. Be better.’