A 23-year-old British woman was shot dead by her father in the United States after a heated argument about US President Donald Trump, a court has heard.
According to a report by the BBC, Lucy Harrison, a fashion buyer from Warrington in Cheshire, was visiting her father, Kris Harrison, in Texas when she was fatally shot in the chest on January 10, 2025. Details of the incident emerged as an inquest into her death opened at Cheshire Coroner’s Court.
On Tuesday, Littler told the court that he had travelled with Lucy to the US, where her father had moved when she was young, for a holiday. He said that Lucy would often become upset with her father when he spoke about his ownership of a gun. He described a “big argument” between father and daughter about Trump on the morning of the shooting. The inquest also heard how Krish Harrison had previously been to rehab for alcohol addiction.
Kris Harrison did not attend the inquest. But he admitted in a statement sent to the court that he had relapsed on the day of the shooting and had consumed about 500ml of white wine.
Littler told the court that on the morning of the incident, his partner had asked her father during the Trump row, “How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I’d been sexually assaulted?” According to Littler, Kris replied, saying that he had two other daughters who lived with him so it would not upset him that much.
Littler said that Lucy became “quite upset” and ran upstairs. He said that later that day, about half an hour before they were due to leave to go to the airport, Lucy had been in the kitchen when her father took her by the hand and led her into the ground-floor bedroom. About 15 seconds later, Littler said that he heard a loud bang and Kris Harrison screaming for his wife, Heather.
{{/usCountry}}Littler said that Lucy became “quite upset” and ran upstairs. He said that later that day, about half an hour before they were due to leave to go to the airport, Lucy had been in the kitchen when her father took her by the hand and led her into the ground-floor bedroom. About 15 seconds later, Littler said that he heard a loud bang and Kris Harrison screaming for his wife, Heather.
{{/usCountry}}“I remember running into the room and Lucy was lying on the floor near the entrance to the bathroom and Kris was just screaming, just sort of nonsense,” Littler told the court.
How the incident unfolded?
In his statement, Kris said that he and his daughter had been watching a news item on gun crime when he told her he had a gun and asked her if she wanted to see it. They went into the bedroom so he could show her a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun, which he kept in the bedside table. The father said that he had bought the gun a couple of years before because he wanted a “sense of security” for his family.
“As I lifted the gun to show her I suddenly heard a loud bang. I did not understand what had happened. Lucy immediately fell,” Kris said, adding that he could not recall whether his finger was on the trigger.
The father acknowledged he had issues with alcohol in the past and said he “briefly lapsed” on the day of his daughter’s death because he was emotional about her leaving.
In a statement issued by his solicitors, Kris Harrison said he "fully accepted" the consequences of his actions. "There isn't a day I don't feel the weight of that loss, a weight I will carry for the rest of my life," he said.
The inquest has been adjourned until Wednesday, when the coroner is expected to deliver her conclusions.