The mother of a British student shot dead in Texas by her father is urging US police to reopen the investigation after a UK coroner ruled the death was unlawful. Jane Coates, from Cheshire, hopes new evidence will prompt a fresh inquiry into the killing of her 23-year-old daughter, Lucy Harrison.
Lucy was shot through the heart during a visit to her father Kris Harrison's home in Texas following an argument about Donald Trump. Senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish ruled that Kris, an alcoholic who had been drinking, pointed a gun at his daughter and pulled the trigger. He was never charged by Texas police, who accepted his claim that the gun discharged accidentally while he was showing it to her.
The inquest heard that Lucy had challenged her father over Trump's alleged sexual misconduct, asking how he would feel if she were in that situation. Kris reportedly replied that he had two other daughters, so it would not bother him. Later that day, Kris claimed he offered to show Lucy his gun, but her family said she already knew about it and would not have wanted to see it.
Lucy's boyfriend, Sam Littler, heard a gunshot and found her on the floor. Kris did not tell emergency services that she had been shot, instead saying she had fainted. Bodycam footage showed Kris telling officers: "I got it out and it just went off as she stood there."
Despite an initial investigation into criminally negligent homicide, the case was ruled accidental. A former prosecutor suggested Kris avoided indictment because the incident occurred in a conservative, pro-gun Texas county. The coroner described the shooting as reckless, noting that shooting through the chest while standing required pointing the gun at his daughter without checking for bullets.
