A British woman was shot dead by her father in Texas after they argued about US politics, an inquest in England has heard.
Lucy Harrison, 23, from Warrington, Cheshire, died on 10 January 2025 at her father Kris Harrison’s home in Prosper, near Dallas. Police investigated the case as possible manslaughter, but a Collin County grand jury declined to charge him.
Her boyfriend, Sam Littler, who had traveled with Lucy to the US, told the inquest there was a “big argument” between Lucy and her father over then-president Donald Trump.
“Kris and Lucy ended up having quite a big argument which led to Lucy running upstairs and being upset,” Littler said.
During the row, Lucy asked her father: “How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I’d been sexually assaulted?”
Littler said Kris Harrison replied that he had two other daughters living with him, so it would not upset him as much. Lucy went upstairs, visibly upset.
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Later, about 30 minutes before they were due to leave for the airport, Harrison led Lucy into his ground-floor bedroom. Littler heard a loud bang and Harrison shouting for his wife.
“I remember running into the room and Lucy was lying on the floor near the entrance to the bathroom and Kris was just screaming, just sort of nonsense,” he said.
Kris Harrison did not attend the inquest but submitted a statement. He admitted drinking about 500ml of white wine that day and said he had shown Lucy a Glock 9mm handgun from his bedside cabinet.
“As I lifted the gun to show her I suddenly heard a loud bang. I did not understand what had happened. Lucy immediately fell,” he said, calling the shooting accidental.
Lucy’s mother, Jane Coates, described her as “a real force of life.” She said: “She cared. She was passionate about things. She loved to have debates about things that meant a lot to her.”
Through his lawyers, Kris Harrison said: “There isn’t a day I don’t feel the weight of that loss, a weight I will carry for the rest of my life.”
The inquest is expected to conclude on Wednesday, when the coroner will deliver her findings.