The mother of a British student shot dead by her father in Texas is calling for police to reinvestigate the case after a UK coroner ruled the death was unlawful. Jane Coates, from Cheshire, hopes new evidence will prompt authorities to act following the inquest into 23-year-old Lucy Harrison's death.
Lucy was shot through the heart at her father Kris Harrison's Texas home in 2022 after an argument about Donald Trump. The coroner, Jacqueline Devonish, found that Kris, an alcoholic who had been drinking, pointed a gun at his daughter and pulled the trigger. He was never charged, claiming the gun fired accidentally while he showed it to her.
The inquest heard that before the shooting, Lucy had challenged her father about Trump's alleged sexual misconduct, asking how he would feel if she were a victim. Kris reportedly said it would not bother him because he had other daughters. Later, he offered to show Lucy his gun, leading them to his bedroom.
Lucy's boyfriend, Sam Littler, heard a gunshot and found her on the floor. Kris did not tell emergency services she had been shot, instead saying she fainted. Bodycam footage showed Kris telling officers, 'I got it out and it just went off as she stood there.'
Local police initially investigated criminally negligent homicide but ruled the death accidental. A former prosecutor suggested Kris avoided indictment because the incident occurred in a conservative, pro-gun county. The coroner described his actions as reckless, stating that shooting her through the chest required pointing the gun at her and pulling the trigger without checking for bullets.
