The death of Lucy Harrison, 23, was tied to gross negligence manslaughter findings in England.
WARRINGTON, England — A coroner in northwest England ruled Wednesday that a 23-year-old British woman was unlawfully killed when she was shot in the chest at her father’s home in Texas during a family visit last year.
The finding closes a two-day inquest into the death of Lucy Harrison, a fashion buyer from Warrington, who was killed on Jan. 10, 2025, in Prosper, near Dallas. Her father, Kris Harrison, said the gun fired accidentally while he was showing it to her. The coroner concluded his actions were reckless and amounted to gross negligence manslaughter, even though no criminal case went forward in Texas after a grand jury declined to bring charges.
At Cheshire Coroner’s Court, Senior Coroner Jacqueline Devonish said the shooting could not be separated from basic gun handling failures described in evidence: the weapon was pointed at Lucy Harrison at chest height, it was not checked for bullets, and the trigger was pulled. Devonish said the act of shooting her “through the chest” while she was standing required those steps, and she ruled the death an unlawful killing. Family members cried as the conclusion was read in court, and lawyers for both sides sparred over how closely the inquest examined the events inside the bedroom where no independent witness was present.
Lucy Harrison had traveled to Texas with her boyfriend, Sam Littler, for a holiday and was preparing to fly back to the U.K. on the day she died. Littler told the court that earlier that morning she had a “big” argument with her father about Donald Trump, who was due to be inaugurated later that month. Littler said she was upset by her father’s views and by his gun ownership, describing a tense atmosphere in the home. He said that about 30 minutes before they were due to leave for the airport, Kris Harrison took his daughter by the hand from the kitchen and led her into his ground-floor bedroom. Littler said he heard a loud bang about 15 seconds later and then heard Kris Harrison screaming for his wife, Heather. When Littler ran into the room, he told the court, Lucy Harrison was on the floor near the bathroom entrance while her father shouted “nonsense,” leaving Littler to call emergency services.
Kris Harrison did not attend the hearing, but a statement from him was read to the court. He said he kept a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun in a bedside cabinet and bought it for what he called a “sense of security” for his family. He said Texas law did not require a license for a firearm kept for home defense. In his account, he told the court he did not recall whether his finger was on the trigger when he took the gun out and that he was confused by the discharge. He said that as he lifted the handgun to show his daughter, he heard a loud bang and she fell. He also told police at the scene that they got the gun out “to have a look” and it “just went off,” according to evidence discussed at the inquest. Devonish found that he did not immediately tell Littler, who phoned 911, that he had shot her.
Evidence also focused on alcohol and the hours leading up to the shooting. The inquest heard that Kris Harrison had struggled with alcohol addiction in the past and said he “briefly lapsed” on Jan. 10, 2025, because he was emotional about his daughter leaving. He said he drank 500 milliliters of white wine over two to three hours earlier in the day. A police officer’s evidence, read to the court, said there was a smell of alcohol on his breath when officers responded at the home after the gunshot. CCTV shown at the inquest indicated he bought two 500-milliliter cartons of chardonnay from a 7-Eleven store shortly before 1 p.m. Devonish described him as a “functioning alcoholic” and said his lack of training and experience with guns heightened the risk. The coroner said she accepted that he may not have known the gun was loaded, but ruled that pointing it at his daughter and pulling the trigger was still grossly negligent.
The hearing also explored Lucy Harrison’s views and the family dynamics around the gun. Littler said he felt on edge during visits and described the home as full of “very opinionated people.” The coroner heard that Lucy Harrison was strongly opposed to firearms and worried about the presence of a gun in a house where her younger half-sisters lived. Devonish was told that Lucy Harrison had challenged her father during the argument, including asking how he would feel if she were sexually assaulted, and Littler said her father’s response distressed her. The inquest heard accounts suggesting the weapon was a recurring point of tension, with references to her father’s talk about taking the gun out and walking around with it. Those details were weighed against his statement that he and his daughter had never discussed his gun ownership before that day.
Legal representatives argued over how the inquest should be conducted given that the shooting occurred in the United States and no prosecution followed there. Ana Samuel, representing Kris Harrison, asked at the start of the hearing for Devonish to step aside, saying a fair-minded observer could see a “real possibility” of bias and that questioning had been closer to a criminal investigation than a fact-finding inquiry. Lois Norris, representing Lucy Harrison’s mother, Jane Coates, opposed the request and described it as an ambush. Devonish rejected the application and continued the proceedings, saying she needed to test the evidence because the only person in the room at the time of the gunshot was the shooter. The inquest heard that a grand jury in Collin County, Texas, determined there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone in connection with Lucy Harrison’s death.
In a statement issued through his solicitors, Kris Harrison said he accepted the consequences of what happened and described the loss as a weight he would carry for the rest of his life. He said he was sorry for the pain caused and said he wanted to honor Lucy Harrison’s memory while raising her sisters. Jane Coates told the inquest her daughter was a “real force of life,” describing her as passionate and someone who loved debates about issues that mattered to her. The court heard Lucy Harrison lived in Warrington and worked for fashion brand Boohoo, and that she had traveled to Texas as part of a visit that ended only minutes before the couple planned to leave for the airport.
The coroner’s conclusion does not itself bring criminal charges in Texas, but it formally records the inquest’s finding that the death was an unlawful killing tied to gross negligence manslaughter. The court’s final paperwork is expected to be issued following Wednesday’s ruling, with the family and legal teams reviewing next steps after the finding.
Author note: Last updated February 11, 2026.