Lucy Harrison was supposed to be heading to the airport. Instead, her boyfriend Sam Littler found her dying on the floor of her father's bedroom in Texas, a gunshot wound to her chest. Just half an hour earlier, the 23-year-old from Warrington had been arguing with her dad aboutDonald Trumpand his guns. Now she was gone.
She'd flown to Prosper, Texas, with Littler for what should've been a Christmas holiday with her father Kris Harrison and his family. But things were tense. An inquest atCheshire Coroner's Courtheard on Tuesday how Lucy would get upset whenever her father talked about guns. On the morning of 10 January last year—the day they were meant to fly home—it all came to a head.
Lucy and her father got into what Littler called 'quite a big argument' about Donald Trump. But this wasn't some casual disagreement. It got heated.
At some point, Lucy asked her father how he'd feel if she was the girl in a situation where she'd been sexually assaulted. His answer? He had two other daughters living with him, so it wouldn't upset him that much. Just think about that for a second. Your daughter asks you a question like that, looking for reassurance—and that's what you say back.
Lucy was gutted. She ran upstairs in tears. About half an hour later, her father took her by the hand and walked her into his ground-floor bedroom. Littler stayed outside. Fifteen seconds later, he heard a bang. Then screaming. Kris Harrison was screaming for his wife. Littler ran in and found Lucy lying near the bathroom entrance. Her father was just standing there, screaming what Littler described as 'just sort of nonsense'. Medical reports later confirmed Lucy had beenshot from medium range—a single gunshot to the chest. She died that afternoon at hospital. Toxicology came back clean.
Here's the bit that'll make your blood boil: a grand jury in Collin Countydecided not to indictKris Harrison. Police investigated it as possible manslaughter. They had a suspect—obviously, since only two people were in that room and one of them died. But the grand jury said no. No charges. No trial.
The inquest heard that Kris Harrison had been to rehab for alcohol addiction. There were questions about whether he'd been properly trained with firearms, whether he even knew the gun was loaded. But he didn't show up to answer any of them. His lawyer tried to get the coroner kicked off the case, claiming possible bias. Lucy's mum's lawyer called it 'an ambush by Mr Harrison's legal team'. The coroner refused to step down.
Lucy's mum, Jane Coates, told the inquest her daughter was 'a real force of life'. She worked as a buyer for Boohoo, the fashion brand. She'd been to Manchester Metropolitan University. She loved travelling, loved experiencing new cultures. When Lucy died,her family saidshe 'lived life fiercely and fearlessly' and had this 'huge capacity to love and be loved'. They said she was thriving. Really thriving.
Source: International Business Times UK
