A British woman shot dead by her father in Texas after an argument about Donald Trump was unlawfully killed, a coroner has ruled. Lucy Harrison, 23, from Warrington, was visiting her father Kris Harrison at his home in Prosper, Texas, on 10 January last year when he pointed a semi-automatic handgun at her chest and pulled the trigger.
Senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish concluded at Cheshire Coroner's Court that Kris Harrison, an alcoholic who had been drinking that day, had killed his daughter through gross negligence manslaughter. Texas police never charged him after he claimed the gun went off accidentally while he lifted it to show her.
The inquest heard Lucy, a fashion buyer for Boohoo, had become upset after a "quite big argument" with her father about Trump, who was due to be inaugurated later that month. Her boyfriend, Sam Littler, who was on the trip, said Lucy had asked her father: "How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I'd been sexually assaulted?"
Mr Littler described feeling "on edge" during the visit, adding that the father had previously spoken about walking around with the gun "like James Bond". A friend of Lucy's told the hearing that Lucy was "categorically anti-gun" and felt "extremely anxious" due to the volatility in the home.
On the day of the shooting, Mr Littler witnessed Harrison lead his daughter to his bedroom, where he kept a Glock 9mm pistol, about 30 minutes before they were due to leave. Within seconds, a loud bang was heard. Harrison claimed Lucy had asked to see the gun, but the coroner ruled he had been teasing her with it, accepting he did not know it was loaded.
The coroner criticised Harrison as a "secret drinker" who had no experience with guns and no training. The family has slammed the failure of US police to bring charges, highlighting the lack of accountability in a state where no licence is needed to keep a firearm for home defence.
