Young woman, 23, shot by dad on holiday had argued with him about Donald Trump, inquest hears
Former Manchester Metropolitan University student Lucy Harrison was visiting her father in the States
Lucy Harrison.
A 23-year-old woman shot by her father while she was staying at his home in the US had argued with him about Donald Trump earlier that day, an inquest has heard.
Lucy Harrison, a Manchester Metropolitan University graduate and fashion buyer from Warrington, had been staying with her father Kris Harrison and his family in Prosper, Texas in January last year when she was killed.
Giving evidence at Cheshire Coroner’s Court on Tuesday (February 10) her boyfriend Sam Littler said he had travelled with her to the US, where her father had moved when she was a child, PA reported.
He said Ms Harrison would often become upset with her father, who the inquest heard had previously been to rehab for alcohol addiction, when he spoke about his ownership of a gun.
On the morning of January 10, when the couple were due to return home to the UK, there was a “big” argument between Ms Harrison and her father about Donald Trump, who was to be inaugurated as president, Mr Littler said.
He said: “Kris and Lucy ended up having quite a big argument which led to Lucy running upstairs and being upset.”
He said Ms Harrison had asked her father: “How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I’d been sexually assaulted?”
Mr Harrison had replied that he had two other daughters who lived with him so it would not upset him that much, Mr Littler said.
He told the coroner’s court later that day, about half an hour before they were to leave to go to the airport, Ms Harrison had been in the kitchen, when her father took her by the hand and led her into his ground-floor bedroom.
About 15 seconds later he heard a loud bang and then heard Mr Harrison screaming for his wife, Heather, he said.
Lucy Harrison was visiting her dad Kris in Texas when she was shot
Mr Littler said: “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.”
Ms Harrison’s mother, Jane Coates, said her daughter, who worked for fashion brand Boohoo, was 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.”
Mr Harrison did not attend the hearing to give evidence. Ana Samuel, representing him, made an application at the start of the hearing for coroner Jacqueline Devonish to recuse herself from the case, saying a fair-minded observer may conclude there was a real possibility she was biased.
She said the inquest had been conducted “in a manner more akin to a criminal investigation than a fact-finding inquiry”. Lois Norris, representing Ms Coates, said the application was an “ambush by Mr Harrison’s legal team”.
She said Mr Harrison was the “person in the room who shot Ms Harrison” and the only person who was in the room when it happened.
Ms Devonish refused the application to recuse herself.
The exact circumstances of her death had not previously been revealed but today (February 10), the inquest was told how it was her father Kris Harrison who shot her. He then ‘lied’ about drinking alcohol on the day of the incident on January 10, 2025.
According to a medical report seen by the ECHO, Lucy was shot in the chest by another person, with five witnesses present in the house when police arrived. It also stated Lucy had no alcohol or drugs in her system.
Despite suffering a gunshot wound to her chest from ‘medium range’ fired by another person, a grand jury found no-one would be prosecuted over her death on June 10 last year. A grand jury in Texas consists of 12 people who determine whether there is probable cause to believe a person committed a felony, assessing all evidence in private.
Despite the person accused of committing a crime being charged by police, they are not named if the grand jury decides to conclude criminal proceedings.