Remember me
A British father who shot his graduate daughter dead while she was visiting his Texas home when his pistol 'just went off' has said he 'fully accepts' the tragic consequences of his actions.
Lucy Harrison, 23, from Warrington, Cheshire, was killed by her alcoholic father Kris as she prepared to fly home on January 10 last year following a post-Christmas break accompanied by her boyfriend.
In his first public comments since the tragedy, Mr Harrison has now paid tribute to Lucy as 'the light of my life' and said he was 'deeply sorry' for the pain he had caused her grieving family.
He said: 'I fully accept the consequences of my actions, and 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, and I know that nothing I say can ease the heartbreak this tragedy has caused.
'I cannot undo what happened, but I can honour Lucy by being the best father I can be to her sisters and by carrying her memory forward in everything we do.
'I am deeply sorry for the pain others feel from this tragedy.
'Lucy's spirit — her warmth, her humour, her kindness — will live on in all of us who loved her.'
On Tuesday, an inquest in Warrington heard Mr Harrison – an executive at a fibre optics company – had drunk 500ml of wine on the morning of the tragedy and that the pair had argued about Donald Trump.
At an inquest into Lucy Harrison's death, it emerged for the first time that she was fatally shot by her father Kris (pictured together)
University graduate Lucy Harrison, 23 (pictured) was described by her mother as 'sensitive, energetic, intelligent, funny and a really great human being'
Lucy was visiting her father, Kris Harrison, who lives in Texas (Pictured: Kris Harrison's home)
He is not attending the hearing, but said in a statement that his fashion buyer daughter – described by a friend as 'categorically anti-gun' – had asked to see his Glock 9mm pistol, which he had not been trained to use.
Tragically, as he removed it from its locked case in his bedroom he 'heard a loud bang' and 'Lucy immediately fell to the ground.'
Emergency services rushed to the house in Prosper, near Dallas, after her boyfriend Sam Littler dialled 911.
But she had been shot through the heart and died at the scene.
Today a coroner will give her conclusions, with a lawyer representing Ms Harrison's mother, Jane Coates, asking her to consider ruling that she was unlawfully killed.
Last June police in the US state deemed that her death was accidental - a decision Ms Coates described at the time as 'baffling' and 'beyond comprehension'.
Mr Harrison had hired lawyers who on Tuesday made an unsuccessful attempt to have senior coroner removed from the case on the grounds she was 'biased' against him.
His barrister accused Jacqueline Devonish of conducting inquiries which were 'more akin to a criminal investigation'.
A manslaughter investigation was launched after Lucy Harrison (pictured), 23, from Warrington, Cheshire, was killed at the house in Prosper, Texas, on January 10, 2025
A tribute from Lucy's mother and boyfriend (pictured together), released by Cheshire Police, said: 'Lucy was life. She lived it fiercely and fearlessly, not being afraid to feel all that life has to offer'
But the coroner rejected the application and the inquest at Cheshire Coroner's Court went ahead.
After the hearing his lawyers released a statement from Mr Harrison, who split from Ms Coates when Lucy was young and later settled in the US, where he married and started a new family.
He said: 'Lucy was the light of my life.
'From the moment she was born, to watching her grow into the remarkable young woman she became — from her first steps to her graduation, where I cried with pride — was the greatest privilege of my life.
'Lucy adored her younger sisters, and our home was never truly complete unless she was in it — laughing, cuddling, and filling every room with joy.
'During her last visit, she wrote a letter saying that Texas was her home and that she felt lucky to be part of 'the best family in the whole wide world'.
'That letter is now one of our most treasured possessions.
'Losing Lucy has shattered all of us. I lost my best friend.
Lucy (pictured) had been due to fly back to Manchester on the day she was shot after spending Christmas in the States
Lucy was found dead at the home of her father Kris (pictured) who works for a fibre optics firm in the States
'My girls lost their big sister and hero, and her stepmum lost her bonus daughter who taught her how to be a mum.'
In a separate witness statement read to the court, Mr Harrison said his daughter agreed to let him show her the weapon after they had watched a television news report about gun crime.
He said he bought the handgun as a 'home defence' weapon, meaning he did not need a licence as long as he did not take it out in public.
He had 'no prior experience and no formal training' around firearms, he said.
Mr Harrison suffered an 'alcoholic seizure' in 2023 which left him in an induced coma, the inquest was told.
He had drunk a 500ml carton of white wine that morning, but did not believe he was impaired by alcohol when his daughter was shot shortly before 3pm.
'As I lifted the gun to show her, I suddenly heard a loud bang,' he said in his statement.
'Lucy immediately fell to the ground.'
Lucy's mother, Jane Coates, pictured arriving at the inquest on Tuesday
Giving evidence at the inquest, her boyfriend Sam Littler (pictured, arriving at court today) said she had argued with her father about Donald Trump on the morning of her death
Police bodycam footage showed Mr Harrison saying the gun 'just went off'. 'We were getting ready to go to the airport and we were talking about guns,' he tells the officer as a shocked-looking Mr Littler stands with his hands behind the back of his neck.
'It was in the bedside cabinet in a locked box. I took it out to look and it just went off.'
Officer Luciano Escalera said he smelt 'metabolised alcohol' on Mr Harrison's breath at which he initially lied, saying he hadn't drunk alcohol since the day before.
But he then said confessed to having drunk a 'small' carton of wine earlier in the day. In their evidence, Ms Harrison's boyfriend and mother insisted she would not have been interested in seeing her father's gun.
She had previously expressed concerns that it was unsafe for her father to have a firearm in the house with his young daughters around, they said.
Ms Harrison had expressed concern about 'volatility' in the house, a friend said, adding that presence of a gun created an 'unpredictable environment'.
Giving evidence, her boyfriend said she had argued with her father about Donald Trump on the morning of her death.
He 'always felt on edge' at the house, he added, saying: 'There was a lot of very opinionated people in the house.'
As they prepared to set off, he said Mr Harrison took his daughter by the hand in a 'mysterious' manner without saying anything.
He then guided her into the downstairs bedroom where the gun was kept in a locked case.
Within 15 seconds, Mr Littler heard a 'loud bang' from the bedroom and found his girlfriend collapsed on the floor.
Paying tribute to her daughter, Ms Coates, a deputy manager at a primary school, described her as 'a real force of life'.
'She was sensitive, energetic, intelligent, funny and a really great human being,' she added.
She was 'passionate about things' and 'loved to have debates', she added.
The inquest is due to conclude today.
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