'My daughter had so much more of life to live'

The mother of a woman who was shot and killed by her father as she visited his home in Texas has said her daughter had "so much more of life to live, to love and to give".

An inquest has concluded that Lucy Harrison, from Warrington in Cheshire, was unlawfully killed on 10 January 2025 in Prosper, near Dallas.

Jane Coates said she never imagined her daughter would be shot "in a place where she should have been safe".

She said what had followed was an "unrelenting year of deep shock, grief and fight".

"Fight - with quiet yet focused, steely determination to allow Lucy to speak her truth in the only way that she now can," she said.

In a statement read after the hearing at Cheshire Coroner's Court, she said the outcome had "given Lucy her voice back", after no prosecution was brought in the US.

She said she and Lucy's boyfriend Sam Littler, who had travelled with her to the US, believed this was because the police investigation there "lacked the rigour and scrutiny you'd expect if this had happened in the UK".

"Lucy deserved better," she added.

Paying tribute to her daughter, she said Lucy had "a huge sense of right and wrong and she was not afraid to speak out if she saw any type of injustice".

"Those who really know Lucy's heart can hear her loud and clear and know exactly what she would want us to do moving forward," she said.

"Make change, do better, be better. "

The inquest heard the father, Kris Harrison, described by the coroner as a functioning alcoholic, claimed the gun had gone off accidentally.

But senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish said his actions, which would have required him to be "pointing the gun at his daughter" and "pulling the trigger" were "reckless."

Coates said: "I brought Lucy up in a single-parent family and along each step of the way I did what parents do to keep their children safe.

"Watching her play with friends when she was little, staying awake until she came home late at night and feeling grateful every time her return flight landed safely after visiting her dad and family.

"I never imagined she would be shot and killed in the US and a place where she should have been safe."

She said she "respectfully" accepted that "our two cultures are different" but she felt "Texas gun laws did not keep Lucy safe from harm".

The inquest heard it was legal to own a gun in Texas for self-defence at home, with no licence needed, she said, which contrasted with English law, which had "strict criteria" applied to licences.

"Gun ownership is legal and commonplace and sadly it results in too many deaths in the USA," she added.

She thanked Littler for "loving Lucy unconditionally", adding: "I take great comfort in knowing that in a short adult life she experienced the richness of true love with her soulmate."

"Although we are satisfied with the coroner's conclusion, there is much to be learnt about Lucy's needless and entirely avoidable death," she said.

"It is an anger where bitterness and hatred may suffocate love and healing, but we will not let that happen.

"Lucy had so much more of life to live, to love and to give."

Coates said she and Littler believed that "Texan gun laws and decisions made by the Prosper Police Department failed Lucy" but they wanted to thank the "many first responders" who tried to save her life, including the team at the Baylor Medical Centre.

She said they would also like to thank "everybody who helped to ease the wretchedness of this last year, including our family, friends, colleagues, employers and the wider community for their continued kindness, love and support."

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