United States: A father shoots his daughter after she criticizes Donald Trump

The inquest has revealed that a 23-year-old British woman, shot dead by her father, had argued with him about Donald Trump earlier in the day.

Lucy Harrison, a young woman from Warrington, Cheshire, worked in fashion and was staying with her father, Kris Harrison, and his family in Prosper, Texas, in January 2025.

Ms. Harrison's boyfriend, Sam Littler, who was with her, told Cheshire Coroner's Court that she often got angry with her father when he talked about his gun ownership.

He explained that on the morning of January 10, when the couple was due to return home, Ms. Harrison and her father had argued about Donald Trump and the sexual assault allegations against him.

"Kris and Lucy ended up having a violent argument, which prompted Lucy to go upstairs, distraught," said Mr. Littler.

He added that Ms. Harrison had asked her father how he would react if she were sexually assaulted.

Her father replied that he had two other daughters living with him and that it would therefore not disturb him unduly, the investigation revealed.

Then, according to Mr. Littler, about half an hour before their departure for the airport, Mr. Harrison took his daughter by the hand and led her to her room on the ground floor.

He said he heard a loud bang about fifteen seconds later, before Mr. Harrison started calling for his wife, Heather.

Mr. Littler stated: "I remember running into the room and seeing Lucy lying on the floor near the bathroom entrance. Kris was screaming, incoherent things."

The investigation also revealed that Mr. Harrison had previously undergone rehabilitation for alcoholism.

He was not present at the hearing, but his representative, Ana Samuel, made a statement.

In this statement, Kris Harrison indicated that he and his daughter were watching a news report on gun crime when he told her he owned a gun and asked if she wanted to see it.

Lucy Harrison and her father Kris Harrison

They entered the room so that he could show her a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol that he kept in the bedside table.

Harrison stated that he had purchased the weapon two years prior because he wanted a "sense of security" for his family.

He denied ever having spoken to his daughter about it before.

He explained: "As I raised the gun to show it to her, I suddenly heard a loud bang. I didn't understand what had happened. Lucy immediately collapsed."

Harrison claimed he couldn't remember if his finger was on the trigger.

He admitted to having had alcohol problems in the past and stated that he had "briefly relapsed" on the day of his daughter's death, overwhelmed by grief over her passing.

The investigation revealed that police officer Luciana Escalera, whose testimony was read, had noticed an odor of alcohol on Harrison's breath when he was called to the scene after the shooting.

CCTV footage showed that Kris Harrison had purchased two 500ml cartons of Chardonnay from a 7-Eleven store shortly before 1:00pm CST (5:00am GMT) that day.

Ana Samuel, representing Kris Harrison, requested, from the beginning of the hearing, the recusal of coroner Jacqueline Devonish, arguing that an impartial observer could conclude that there was a "real possibility of bias".

She added that the investigation had been conducted "more like a criminal investigation than a factual investigation."

Lois Norris, representing Jane Coates, Lucy Harrison's mother, called the request "a delaying tactic by Mr. Harrison's legal team."

Lucy Harrison and her mother Jane Coates

She stated that Kris Harrison was "the person present in the room who shot Ms. Harrison" and the only person present at the time of the incident.

Ms. Devonish refused to recuse herself.

In a statement released by his lawyers, Kris Harrison said he "fully accepts" the consequences of his actions.

"Not a day goes by that I don't feel the weight of this loss, a weight I will carry all my life," he said.

Ms. Coates described her daughter, a buyer for the fashion brand Boohoo, as a "true source of joy."