Mum wants case reopened after daughter was killed by her own dad
The mum of a British woman who was shot and killed by her father on holiday in the United States is fighting to get her case reopened.
Lucy Harrison, 23, was shot in the chest by her father, Kris Harrison, at his home in Prosper, Texas, on January 10, 2025.
Mr Harrison, described by the coroner as a functioning alcoholic, claimed the gun had gone off accidentally.
Lucy’s death was investigated as possible manslaughter, but no criminal charges were brought against the father after a US grand jury decided against indicting him.
Now, Lucy’s mum, Jane Coates, is hoping that Texas police reopen the case after a coroner in Cheshire ruled Lucy’s death ‘reckless’.
Coates said: ”The person I want in my mind and in my heart is Lucy. She cared about the truth.
‘Those who really know Lucy’s heart can hear her loud and clear and know exactly what she would want us to do … Make change, do better, be better.’
Coates said she hopes the UK coroner’s findings of her ex-husband’s ‘recklessness’ while drinking that day will spark a new investigation.
The mum added that she doesn’t think Harrison intended to kill Lucy, but thinks he acted carelessly after drinking all day.
Harrison has been allowed to walk free, with Lucy’s mother claiming she had fallen foul of Texan gun laws after he bought the Glock 9mm without a licence for ‘self defence’.
Last month, CCTV showed the moment Harrison told police Lucy had asked to see the gun: ‘I got it out, and it just went off as she stood there. Like, as I pulled it out, it went off.’
But Lucy’s family say she was avidly against guns and would have never asked to see her dad’s pistol, as Harrison suggested.
Coates said her daughter was ‘failed’ by Texan gun laws and decisions made by the police department in Prosper.
‘Lucy had so much more of life to live, to love, to give,’ she said after the inquest in February.
‘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.’
Lucy’s boyfriend, Sam Littler, had travelled with her to the States and told an inquest that she had become upset after she and her father had argued about Donald Trump.
The coroner in Cheshire accepted that Harrison did not know the gun was loaded, but said Lucy would not have asked to see the gun, given she disliked the weapons and considered them a danger to the family.
The inquest heard police in Texas failed to test Mr Harrison for alcohol despite suspecting he had been drinking after smelling alcohol on his breath.
Concluding the inquest, the coroner said: ‘She was young, vibrant and beautiful with her whole life ahead of her and this is a most tragic death.’
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