Lucy Harrison in Texas: Shooting, Grand Jury, and Coroner’s Ruling

The Lucy Harrison Texas shooting refers to the death of a 23-year-old British woman who was fatally shot in the chest by her father, Kris Harrison, at his home in Prosper, Texas, on January 10, 2025, following an argument about Donald Trump. A Collin County grand jury declined to indict her father in June 2025, but in February 2026 a British coroner ruled the death an unlawful killing, finding that his conduct amounted to gross negligence manslaughter.¹

Who Lucy Harrison Was

Lucy Harrison grew up in Warrington, Cheshire, after her father moved to the United States when she was a child. She studied at Manchester Metropolitan University and worked as a buyer for the online fashion brand Boohoo.² She traveled to Texas on December 27, 2024, with her boyfriend, Sam Littler, to visit her father and younger half-siblings at the family home in Prosper, a suburb north of Dallas.³

Friends who later testified at the inquest said Lucy was “categorically anti-gun” and felt “extremely anxious” at her father’s house because a firearm was kept there and because of what they described as his “volatility.”²

The Argument and the Shooting

On the morning of January 10, 2025, Lucy and her father had what Littler later described as a “big argument” about Donald Trump, who was preparing for his second inauguration. The dispute turned personal when Lucy asked her father how he would feel if she were sexually assaulted. According to Littler’s testimony, Kris Harrison replied that it “would not upset him that much” because he had two other daughters living with him. Lucy became visibly upset and went upstairs.⁴

Kris Harrison had a documented history of alcohol addiction and had previously been through rehab. He admitted relapsing that day. CCTV footage showed him buying two 500-milliliter cartons of Chardonnay from a 7-Eleven shortly before 1:00 p.m., and a responding officer later reported smelling alcohol on his breath.⁵

Later that afternoon, about thirty minutes before Lucy and Littler were due to leave for the airport, Harrison and his daughter were watching a television news segment about gun crime. Harrison told Lucy he owned a gun and asked if she wanted to see it. He took her by the hand and led her into his ground-floor bedroom, where he kept a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun in a bedside cabinet. About fifteen seconds after they entered the room, Littler heard a loud bang.⁵

Littler ran to the bedroom and found Lucy on the floor near the bathroom entrance, with her father “just screaming, just sort of nonsense.”⁴ Emergency responders performed CPR and transported Lucy to Baylor Medical Center in McKinney, where she was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m.³

Kris Harrison’s Account

On police bodycam footage shown at the inquest, Kris Harrison told officers the shooting was accidental. “She said, ‘you got a gun?’ I said, yes, I got it out and it just went off,” he said. He told officers he placed the gun on the bed immediately after it discharged.⁶

In a written statement to the inquest, Harrison described himself as a “functioning alcoholic” who had relapsed that day, drinking around 500 milliliters of white wine. He said he could not recall whether his finger was on the trigger and did not understand how the gun discharged. He said he kept the weapon for “a sense of security” for his family. He had no training in the firearm and owned it legally without a license, which Texas does not require for home possession.⁵⁷

The Prosper Police Investigation

The Prosper Police Department investigated the death as a possible manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. Officers produced a diagram of the bedroom recording the positions of the firearm, the spent shell casing, and bloodstains. The bullet was never recovered, and the Glock was found to be in “full working order.”⁸

Several aspects of the investigation later drew criticism. No breathalyzer or blood alcohol test was conducted on Kris Harrison, even though officers detected alcohol on his breath. Littler testified that when he raised the issue, police told him there was no probable cause because Harrison “did not appear impaired.”⁸ Littler said he was placed in the back of a police car for two hours without any update on Lucy’s condition, and that while at the station he overheard an officer refer to the shooting as an “accident.” He was questioned minutes after being told Lucy had died and was asked by police to phone her mother to break the news. He said he was never contacted again by U.S. authorities to expand on his statement.⁹

The Grand Jury Decision in Collin County

The Prosper Police Department referred the case to the Collin County District Attorney’s Office. In June 2025, a grand jury returned a “no-bill,” finding insufficient evidence to charge anyone in connection with Lucy Harrison’s death. No criminal charges were filed against Kris Harrison in Texas.¹⁰

The Collin County Medical Examiner separately classified the manner of death as a homicide. That is a medical determination meaning a death caused by the actions of another person, and it does not carry the same meaning as a criminal charge.³

Lucy’s mother, Jane Coates, called the grand jury’s decision “baffling” and “beyond comprehension” and said she was troubled that the process was conducted in secret and that the family did not know the full scope of evidence presented.¹¹

The UK Coroner’s Ruling of Unlawful Killing

Because Lucy Harrison was a British citizen, an inquest was held at Cheshire Coroner’s Court before Senior Coroner Jacqueline Devonish. The ruling was delivered on February 11, 2026.¹² Kris Harrison did not attend but submitted a written statement.

The inquest heard from Sam Littler and considered bodycam footage, the police scene diagram, and evidence about the firearm. A critical finding was that although the gun’s magazine had been removed, a bullet remained in the chamber. The coroner also concluded that the evidence suggested Lucy had been farther from her father than his account described.¹⁸

Coroner Devonish rejected the account that the gun had simply “gone off.” On the balance of probabilities, she found that Harrison had been drinking and was playing a “prank” by pointing the loaded weapon at his daughter without checking whether a round was chambered. “To shoot her through the chest whilst she was standing would have required him to have been pointing the gun at his daughter, without checking for bullets, and pulling the trigger. I find these actions to be reckless,” she said.¹³

She accepted that Harrison did not intend to kill his daughter and did not realize the weapon was loaded, but concluded that his conduct was “truly exceptionally bad and reprehensible so as to amount to gross negligence.” Her formal conclusion was that Lucy Harrison was unlawfully killed.⁶⁷

What the Coroner’s Ruling Can and Cannot Do

A UK inquest is a fact-finding proceeding. It does not assign criminal guilt, and it has no power to compel prosecution in another country. The coroner could not summon Kris Harrison, a U.S. resident, to appear, and the ruling carries no direct legal force in Texas.¹⁴

Where the Case Stands Now

Jane Coates has campaigned publicly for the case to be reopened, appearing on Good Morning Britain and speaking to Sky News. She has said she initially accepted that her daughter’s death was a “tragic accident” but changed her view after seeing the autopsy results, and she has pointed to what she considers inconsistencies in the investigation, including her contention that the police bedroom diagram contradicts Kris Harrison’s version of how far he was standing from Lucy when the gun fired.¹⁵¹¹ She also noted that while Lucy was tested for drugs and alcohol during her autopsy, Kris Harrison was not tested at the scene.¹⁶

On June 10, 2026, Coates filed a formal complaint with the Prosper Police Department asking for a full review of how the case was handled. The complaint alleges the investigation “lacked rigour,” “lacked scrutiny,” and “fell below professional standards.” As of mid-June 2026, she had not received confirmation that the department had acknowledged the complaint.¹⁷ The Town of Prosper has said that “after a thorough investigation” it referred the case to the Collin County District Attorney’s Office and does not comment on cases that may involve “ongoing investigation or pending litigation.”¹⁰

No criminal charges have been filed against Kris Harrison in the United States. The grand jury’s no-bill closed the Texas criminal case, and as of mid-2026 there has been no public indication that it has been reopened.¹⁸ In his written statement to the inquest, Harrison said he “fully accepted” the consequences of his actions.⁵

1
BBC News. Lucy Harrison Inquest Coroner Ruling
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The Guardian. British Woman Lucy Harrison Unlawfully Killed by Father Kris Harrison Texas
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Fox 4 News. British Woman Killed Texas After Argument Father Over Trump
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People. Woman Argued With Dad About Trump Before Fatal Shooting Inquest
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BBC News. Lucy Harrison Texas Shooting Inquest
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People. Man Shot Daughter Told Cops Gun Just Went Off
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New York Post. Texas Dad Shot Daughter After Trying to Rile Her Up Coroner Rules
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BBC News. Lucy Harrison Prosper Police Investigation
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The Daily Beast. Sam Littler Boyfriend of Lucy Harrison Speaks Out
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BBC News. Lucy Harrison Grand Jury Decision
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New York Post. UK Mom of Daughter Lucy Harrison Shot Dead by Texas Dad Slams Cops for Ignoring Evidence
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Sky News. British Woman 23 Shot Dead by Dad at His Texas Home Was Unlawfully Killed Coroner Rules
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BBC News. Lucy Harrison Unlawfully Killed Coroner Conclusion
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The New York Times. Lucy Harrison Shooting UK Texas Coroner
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ITV News. Mother of Daughter Shot Dead by Father in Texas Says He Must Be Held Accountable
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Daily Mirror. Lucy Harrison Mum Slams Inconsistencies
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ITV News. Mother of Woman Shot Dead by Dad in Texas Files Complaint Against US Police
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Dallas Express. UK Inquest Lucy Harrison’s Prosper Texas Death Ruled Unlawful Killing