Wednesday, February 11, 2026 - A 23-year-old British woman who was shot de@d by her father had argued with him about Donald Trump earlier that day, an inquest has heard.
Lucy Harrison, a fashion shopper from Warrington, Cheshire,
was staying with her father, Kris Harrison, and his family at their home in
Prosper, Texas, in January 2025.
Ms Harrison's boyfriend, Sam Littler, who made the trip with
her, told Cheshire Coroner's Court she would often become upset with
her father when he spoke about his gun ownership.
He said that on the morning of 10 January - when the couple were due to fly
home - Ms Harrison and her father argued about Donald Trump and the s£xual
assault allegations against him.
"Kris and Lucy ended up having quite a big argument
which led to Lucy running upstairs and being upset," Mr Littler
said.
He said Ms Harrison asked her father how he'd feel if she
was s£xually assaulted.
Her father replied that he had two other daughters who lived
with him so it would not upset him that much, the inquest heard.
Then, Mr Littler said, about half an hour before they were due to leave for the
airport, Mr Harrison took his daughter by the hand and led her into his
ground-floor bedroom.
He said he heard a loud bang some 15 seconds later, before Mr Harrison started
screaming for his wife, Heather.
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."
The inquest was also told that Mr Harrison had previously been to rehab for
alcohol addiction.
He did not attend the hearing, but his representative, Ana Samuel, gave a
statement.
The statement from Kris Harrison said he and his daughter had been watching a
news item on gun crime when he told her he had a gun and asked her if she
wanted to see it.
Lucy Harrison and her father Kris Harrison
They went into the bedroom so he could show her a Glock 9mm
semi-automatic handgun which he kept in the bedside cabinet.
Harrison said he had bought the gun a couple of years before
because he wanted a "sense of security" for his family.
He denied ever discussing it with his daughter before.
He said: "As I lifted the gun to show her I suddenly
heard a loud bang. I did not understand what had happened. Lucy immediately
fell."
Harrison said he could not recall whether his finger was on
the trigger.
He acknowledged he had issues with alcohol in the past and
said he "briefly lapsed" on the day of his daughter's de@th because
he was emotional about her leaving.
The inquest heard police officer Luciana Escalera, whose
evidence was read, noticed the smell of alcohol on Harrison's breath when he
was called to the house after the shooting.
CCTV footage showed Kris Harrison had bought two 500ml
cartons of Chardonnay from a 7-Eleven store shortly before 13:00 CST (05:00
GMT) that day.
Ana Samuel, representing Kris Harrison, 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 Lucy Harrison's mother Jane
Coates, said the application was an "ambush by Mr Harrison's legal
team".
Lucy Harrison and her mother Jane Coates
She said Kris Harrison was the "person in the room who
shot Ms Harrison" and the only person in the room when it happened.
Devonish refused the application to recuse herself.
In a statement issued by his solicitors, Kris Harrison said
he "fully accepted" the consequences of his actions.
"There isn't a day I don't feel the weight of that
loss, a weight I will carry for the rest of my life," he said.
Coates said her daughter, who worked as a buyer 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."
The inquest was adjourned until Wednesday, Feb. 11, when the
coroner is expected to deliver her conclusions.
0 Comments