Mom of Woman Shot by Father After Trump Argument Demands New Investigation

Lucy Harrison’s mother is traveling from England to Texas with a question that has haunted her since her daughter was shot to death at her father’s home: Was the killing properly investigated?

Jane Coates wants authorities in Collin County to reconsider the January 10, 2025, death of Lucy, a 23-year-old fashion buyer who was visiting her father, Kris Harrison, in Prosper. A Texas grand jury declined to indict him. More than a year later, a coroner in England concluded that Lucy had been unlawfully killed through gross negligence. The finding did not bring a criminal charge in Texas. (FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth)

“I simply want the truth about what happened,” Coates told The New York Post. She said she wants investigators to meet with the family and consider the concerns raised by independent experts.

Lucy had traveled from the UK with her boyfriend, Sam Littler, to visit her father and younger half-sisters. Littler told the English inquest that Lucy and her father had a “big” argument about Donald Trump earlier on the day she died. He said Lucy was upset afterward. That argument is part of the day’s reported timeline, but no Texas court has found that politics was a motive for the shooting. (ITV News Granada)

Later, Harrison took Lucy into his bedroom. He said she had asked to see the 9mm Glock he kept there and that it fired as he lifted it from its case. Littler told the inquest he heard a bang roughly 15 seconds after they entered the room. Harrison has described Lucy’s death as an accident and, through his lawyers, said he carries the weight of it every day. (ITV News Granada)

The English coroner reached a different conclusion about Harrison’s handling of the gun. After hearing evidence over two days in February, Senior Coroner Jacqueline Devonish ruled Lucy’s death an unlawful killing on the grounds of gross negligence manslaughter. That is a conclusion of an English inquest, not a conviction or a binding ruling in the United States. (warrington.gov.uk)

Now, new reporting by FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth adds detail to the family’s questions. The station reviewed a 40-page police report that said an officer smelled alcohol on Harrison’s breath. He initially denied drinking, then said he had consumed a carton of wine before the shooting. The report did not document a breath or blood alcohol test, according to FOX 4. An absence from the report does not, by itself, establish every step investigators did or did not take. (FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth)

The station also reported that Harrison initially denied having his finger on the trigger. After a Texas Ranger explained that the gun would fire only if the trigger was pressed, Harrison said the way he picked it up may have contributed to the discharge. Retired Dallas police official Craig Miller has questioned whether investigators did enough to test Harrison’s account and assess his drinking. Those are his criticisms of the investigation; they do not establish that Harrison intended to shoot Lucy. (FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth)

Prosper police reject the suggestion that the case was inadequately investigated. In a statement to FOX 4, the department said it and the Texas Rangers conducted a “thorough and complete investigation,” sent the case to the Collin County District Attorney’s Office, and presented it to a grand jury that declined charges. Police said they will not reopen their investigation or meet with Coates. The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the record to the station. (FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth)

Coates and Littler have filed complaints about the handling of the case. Coates and supporters of her “For Luce” campaign plan to be in Texas from September 26 through October 2 to seek meetings with the police chief and prosecutors. Because grand jury proceedings are sealed, the public does not know precisely what evidence jurors reviewed or how they weighed it. (FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth)

Beyond the dispute over evidence and legal decisions, Coates wants people to remember the daughter she lost. In a family tribute shared by Cheshire police, Lucy’s loved ones remembered her appetite for travel, her willingness to speak her mind and her deep affection for the people close to her. (Cheshire Constabulary)