Lucy Harrison, from Warrington, was shot by her dad at his home in Texas
Lucy Harrison, from Warrington, died following an incident at her dad’s house in Texas(Image: Facebook)
The death of a Warrington woman who was shot by her dad at his home in the US has been ruled as an unlawful killing. Lucy Harrison had been on holiday with her boyfriend Sam Littler on January 10 last year when she was fatally shot from “medium range” at the detached house in Prosper, Texas.
The couple had arrived at her dad’s home on December 28, having flown out from Heathrow. Lucy and Sam had bought their first house together just nine months earlier and had welcomed family for their first Christmas in their Warrington home days before they left the country.
According to a medical report seen by the ECHO, Lucy was shot in the chest by another person, with five witnesses present in the house. During an inquest into her death at Cheshire Coroner’s Court in Warrington, which began yesterday, February 10, it was heard how Lucy’s dad Kris Harrison had taken her by the hand into his bedroom shortly before he was due to drive her and Sam to the airport.
Sam told the court how around 15 seconds later he heard a bang before Mr Harrison shouted his wife Heather’s name. Sam, Mrs Harrison, her two daughters and a neighbour who was in the home ran to the downstairs bedroom where they found Lucy on the floor.
It was heard how Mr Harrison had drank 500ml of vintage chardonnay without his family knowing, with him claiming to have pulled his 9mm Glock handgun from its case, retrieved from his bedside cabinet under a stack of books, and as he lifted the firearm it discharged and killed his daughter.
It’s accepted he had consumed alcohol but stated he was not “under the influence”, with it being revealed how he was an alcoholic. Evidence from Lucy’s friend Ella Gowing stated that Lucy had told her how Mr Harrison had suffered from an alcoholic seizure before being placed in an induced coma in 2023 before being admitted to a rehab facility.
The ECHO previously reported how a grand jury found no-one would be prosecuted over her death on June 10 last year.
A grand jury in Texas consists of 12 people who determine whether there is probable cause to believe a person committed a felony, assessing all evidence in private. Despite the person accused of committing a crime being charged by police, they are not named if the grand jury decides to conclude criminal proceedings.
As senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish summed up the facts of the case, she said: “Texas police failed to take any blood or perform breath testing. Lucy was tested for alcohol, drugs and prescription medication and she was clean. I considered the bullet in the chamber of the gun. I accept that Kris Harrison did not load the magazine into the handgun.
“I accept that he did not know the gun was loaded. I do not accept that the gun just went off as he removed it from the box – this is due to the room lay out and location Lucy’s body was found. 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 this action to be reckless. Was the death intentional or accidental? His actions have killed his own daughter and in the cold light of day I hope he recognises the risks he posed to her life.”
She further stated she believed Mr Harrison had been drinking throughout the morning after he admitted to drinking before his daughters woke up. He later purchased two cartons of wine at a 7/11 store after he told his family he was going to collect cookies. He drank one of the two cartons before driving home.
Handing down her conclusion today, February 11, senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish said: “[Kris Harrison] was a functioning alcoholic who had been drinking and driving that day with immediate plans to drive Lucy and Sam to the airport. Whilst I accept there was lack of intent for the reasons stated, I do find that his actions were truly, exceptionally bad and reprehensible to amount to gross negligence. Lucy Harrison died due to unlawful killing on the grounds of gross negligence manslaughter.”
In evidence from Mr Harrison, read on behalf to the court due to his absence from proceedings, it said while others sat on the couch, Mr Harrison said he and Lucy spent time alone.
In his statement read to the court, he said: “Lucy and I moved to the kitchen area and watched a news segment about gun crime in the US. We began chatting generally about the segment. I then said that I had a gun, ‘do you want to see it?’ and she did. We went to the bedroom where I had the gun.”
He continued to say he had never had any “formal training” and had “never fired a gun”, with the dad having bought the firearm from a colleague at work. He said: “As I lifted the gun to show her I suddenly heard a loud bang. I didn’t understand what happened in that moment but Lucy suddenly fell to the ground.”
He continued: “I lost my daughter and my best friend, there is not a day that goes by where I do not relive these events.” Despite an exit wound being identified on the body of Lucy, no bullet was ever recovered from the scene, and the house was handed back to Mr Harrison later that day.
Earlier in proceedings, Lucy’s mum, boyfriend and friend all spoke of her views against bearing arms, with a statement from her friend Ella Gowing stating: “She was concerned for her younger siblings, she did not want them to be around something so dangerous.
Kris Harrison shot his daughter Lucy in his home in Prosper, Texas last year
Despite an exit wound being identified on the body of Lucy, no bullet was ever recovered from the scene, and the house was handed back to Mr Harrison later that day.
Earlier in proceedings, Lucy’s mum, boyfriend and friend all spoke of her views against bearing arms, with a statement from her friend Ella Gowing stating: “She was concerned for her younger siblings, she did not want them to be around something so dangerous.
“She said that there was some volatility in Kris’s household which Lucy witnessed when she visited the States and [which] made her feel extremely anxious. She talked about these worries to me.”
When mum Jane Coates spoke at the inquest, she was asked what her daughter had been like. She said: “It’s so hard to answer that with words. To capture the essence of her you had to see her to believe her – she was a force of life, sensitive, energetic, intelligent, funny and a really great human being.”
She revealed her daughter had sent her a text message just 15 minutes before she was shot to say she was packed and ready to travel back to the UK.
Lucy Harrison and boyfriend Sam Littler.(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
She said: “Whenever Lucy was over in America my contact with her was more limited and she would often wait until she got home to tell me things because she didn’t feel right to text me about things going on over there. The previous Christmas she texted me on the 9th of January to say she was going out with the neighbour and when she got back she told me the conversation she had had with the neighbour. A Iot was about her dads gun and she shared concerns [about it].”
Jane added: “She was not happy he had a gun – Lucy was anti-guns, guns are not our culture and she did not like him having a gun in the house.”
Ms Devonish stated earlier in proceedings how Mr Harrison had previously lied to police about his drinking after shooting his daughter at his home in Prosper. Ms Devonish said: “When I received the police statement he had lied about his drinking and had not admitted to being an alcoholic.”
Mr Harrison’s counsel, Ana Samuel, told the court how her client had not misled police and there was no indication of that. Lucy’s mum, Jane Coates, paid tribute to her daughter when she sat down for an emotional interview with the ECHO. She said: “It’s so hard to capture who she was, and who she still is, using words because they just don’t come close.
“She was full of energy and life, and she was bold and brave. She was so emotionally intelligent, she was able to feel everything and she wasn’t ashamed of feeling everything.”
