Grieving Mum’s Desperate Mission: Flying to Texas to Force Reopening of Case After Father Shot Her 23-Year-Old Daughter Dead.
More than a year after her only daughter was shot through the heart, a British mother is preparing to travel thousands of miles to Texas in a determined bid to reopen the investigation into the killing. Jane Coates believes the original police inquiry lacked the thoroughness required and is hoping to persuade prosecutors to take a fresh look at the evidence surrounding the death of 23-year-old Lucy Harrison.
Lucy, a fashion buyer from Warrington in Cheshire, had been visiting her father Kris Harrison at his home in Prosper, near Dallas, with her boyfriend. On 10 January 2025 — the day before she was due to fly home — she was alone with her father in a bedroom when a Glock handgun discharged, striking her in the chest. She died from the wound. Local police treated the incident as a possible manslaughter case, but a grand jury in Collin County later declined to indict, meaning no criminal charges were brought. Kris Harrison maintained the gun had gone off accidentally while he was showing it to his daughter.
A British inquest reached a different conclusion. In February 2026 the senior coroner for Cheshire ruled that Lucy had been unlawfully killed on the grounds of gross negligence manslaughter. The coroner found that the father’s actions were reckless: the gun could only have fired after it was pointed at Lucy and the trigger pulled. Evidence presented at the hearing indicated he had been drinking wine beforehand, and officers noted the smell of alcohol on his breath yet did not carry out any formal test for alcohol.
Jane Coates has long expressed dissatisfaction with the Texas investigation. She submitted a formal complaint to the Prosper Police Department, arguing that key evidence was not examined with sufficient rigour. Physical details, including the trajectory of the bullet and the positions of people and the spent casing in the room, have fuelled her concerns that the account given did not fully match the forensic picture. Her local MP has also called on the UK government to press American authorities to reconsider the matter.
Now Coates is taking the campaign a step further. She plans to travel to the United States in the hope of meeting the Collin County District Attorney and presenting the findings of the British coroner. She acknowledges the different legal systems and jurisdictions involved, yet insists the goal remains clear: to secure a new examination of the case so that questions about how a loaded firearm was handled that day can be properly addressed.
Lucy is remembered by those closest to her as energetic, intelligent, funny and empathetic — a young woman with a strong sense of right and wrong who still had so much life ahead of her. For her mother, the journey to Texas represents more than a legal appeal. It is an attempt to ensure that the circumstances of her daughter’s death receive the scrutiny she believes they still deserve, and that Lucy’s voice continues to be heard more than eighteen months after the shooting that ended her life.
The outcome of any fresh review remains uncertain. What is clear is a mother’s resolve to keep fighting for answers across an ocean.