A British man who fatally shot his 23-year-old daughter last year in a disagreement over Donald Trump has released a statement.
Kris Harrison accidentally fired a 9mm Glock at his child at 'medium range' on 10 January 2025 at his property in Prosper, Texas.
Lucy, from Warrington, Cheshire, had been visiting the US for a holiday with her boyfriend, Sam Littler, at the time. The couple had been staying with Kris, who moved across the pond in the years prior.
Kris had been due to drop the couple at the airport later that day, but tragically, Lucy never made it home.
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An inquest into Lucy's death recently concluded at Cheshire Coroner's Court, during which a heartbroken Sam testified.
He recalled the Boohoo fashion brand worker being passionately anti-gun - something she and her father would incessantly butt heads over, especially with Kris owning a weapon.
On the day of Lucy's death, Sam recalled she and Kris becoming embroiled in a 'big' argument about President Trump - who was due to be inaugurated into the White House for the second time later that month - and his increasingly right-wing policies.
"Kris and Lucy ended up having quite a big argument, which led to Lucy running upstairs and being upset," he told the court.
Attendees heard that Kris later led his daughter to the master bedroom of his property after secretly drinking 500ml of chardonnay, before retrieving a handgun from his bedside table, removing it from its case, and accidentally firing it at Lucy.
Sam heard the bangs roughly 15 seconds after Kris had led his daughter away, after which he reportedly began screaming for his wife, Heather.
"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."
A grand jury in Texas - consisting of 12 people - last June found no one deserving of prosecution. It was accepted that Kris had consumed alcohol prior to the killing, but was not 'under the influence'.
However, UK coroner Jacqueline Devonish ruled that Lucy's death was an unlawful killing as a result of gross negligence manslaughter.
She said: "To shoot her through the chest whilst she was standing would have required him to have been pointing the gun at his daughter, without checking for bullets, and pulling the trigger.
"I find these actions to be reckless."
Kris has been absent from his week's proceedings, being represented in UK court by lawyer Ana Samuel.
In a statement given to Liverpool ECHO, however, he said he was 'deeply sorry' for what happened.
"Lucy was the light of my life," the letter, read in court began. "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."
Kris added: "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. My girls lost their big sister and hero, and her stepmom lost her bonus daughter who taught her how to be a mum."
The suspect, who also had two other daughters living with him, went on to claim: "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."
Kris' statement concluded: "Lucy’s spirit - her warmth, her humour, her kindness - will live on in all of us who loved her."
In a separate part of his testimony delivered in court, he claimed that, prior to the shooting, he and his daughter had been watching a television news segment on gun crime, when he told her he had one and asked her if she wanted to see it.
Kris added, however, that he doesn't recall his finger being on the trigger of his gun or not when he took it out of its case minutes later.
"As I lifted the gun to show her, I suddenly heard a loud bang," he insisted. "I did not understand what had happened. Lucy immediately fell."
Also during the hearing, his lawyer discussed Kris' previous problems with alcohol, stating that he'd 'briefly lapsed' the day of Lucy's death.
Topics: Crime, US News, Donald Trump, UK News, News, Politics
Rhianna Benson