Boyfriend questions inquiry into woman's US shooting

The boyfriend of a British woman who was shot and killed by her father at his home in Texas has questioned the investigation into her death.

Lucy Harrison, 23, was alone in a room with her father, Kris Harrison, in the town of Prosper when she was shot in the chest on 10 January 2025.

Local police investigated her death as possible manslaughter but no criminal case was brought against her father after a grand jury in Collin County declined to indict him.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Lucy's partner Sam Littler, who was in the house at the time, said he still had "continuing questions and concerns" about the circumstances of her death.

The couple, who had recently moved in together in Warrington, Cheshire, had been visiting her father and his family and were due to fly home later on the day of her death.

In February this year an inquest into Lucy's death, held in the UK, heard her father - described as a "functioning alcoholic" - had been secretly drinking wine on the day she was shot without the rest of his family being aware.

There had been an argument between Lucy and her father about US president Donald Trump, witnesses said.

It also heard based on the angle of the gunshot wound and the analysis of the gun, he would have to have pointed it at his daughter and pulled the trigger from a "medium range".

Kris Harrison declined to attend the inquest to give evidence, but in written statements claimed the gun just "went off" as he lifted it out of a case to show his daughter.

However, the senior coroner for Cheshire, Jacqueline Devonish, concluded Lucy had been unlawfully killed.

She said based on the evidence she had heard, Kris Harrison's actions had been "reckless" and amounted to gross negligence manslaughter.

In a statement shared on social media, Littler said he felt some of the actions of the Prosper Police Department had been difficult to understand.

"Despite officers being aware that alcohol had been consumed, and despite Kris being the only other person in the room when Lucy was shot, no breathalyser or blood alcohol test was carried out," he claimed.

"I was later informed that officers did not believe there was probable cause because he did not appear impaired.

"Given the seriousness of the incident, I struggled to understand why objective testing was not undertaken at the time."

Littler claimed he had not been allowed to travel to hospital with Lucy and was placed in the back of a police car for two hours without any news or updates on her condition.

He said he had been transferred to a police station to give a witness statement, but overheard an officer discussing the case on the phone and describing it as an "accident" - which he said could suggest conclusions had already been drawn.

After returning to the UK, Littler said he and his girlfriend's family had to push to speak to the District Attorney in Collin County.

When a meeting was arranged, several weeks after her death, he said he found the Americans did not appear to take his concerns seriously.

Littler said: "When I asked questions about positioning and measurements taken at the scene, I was told 'this isn't like CSI on the television'.

"I personally found that response dismissive, particularly given the seriousness of the circumstances and the questions we were trying to understand."

Lucy's mother Jane Coates has also raised concerns about the investigation into her daughter's death, accusing local police of "not following the evidence".

"It's incredibly frustrating because there was physical evidence there, there was an autopsy that said Lucy was shot through the heart at a downward trajectory," she told Sky News earlier this month.

Coates said police had drawn up a diagram that reconstructed the scene in Kris Harrison's bedroom, including the position of the gun, where both Lucy and the spent casing landed, and blood stains on the floor.

In the inquest, the coroner said the evidence suggested Lucy was further away from her father than he had described in his police statements.

Littler added: "Based solely on my understanding of the evidence presented during the inquest, I personally struggled to reconcile the physical evidence shown in that diagram with the account that Lucy had been standing beside Kris when the gun was removed from its case.

"I do not know whether the grand jury was informed that the firearm was found to be in full working order, or that the bullet itself was never recovered."

The Prosper Police Department has been contacted for comment.

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