THE mother of Warrington woman Lucy Harrison has travelled to Texas in a fresh bid to have the investigation into her daughter’s death reopened – only to be met with what she describes as another wall of silence.
Jane Coates has travelled from Warrington to the United States as she continues her campaign for answers over the death of her 23-year-old daughter, who was shot at her father’s home in Prosper, Texas, on January 10, 2025.
Lucy, from Great Sankey, had travelled to Texas with her boyfriend Sam Littler to visit her father Kris Harrison and his family.
She was shot through the chest shortly before she was due to return home to the UK.
A Texas grand jury subsequently declined to bring criminal charges against her father, after accepting that the shooting could not be proven to have been intentional.
But a subsequent inquest in Cheshire reached a starkly different conclusion.
Senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish ruled that Lucy had been unlawfully killed, concluding that her father’s actions amounted to gross negligence manslaughter under UK law.
Now, more than 20 months after Lucy’s death, her mother has taken the fight directly to Texas.
But when Jane arrived at the town hall hoping to meet the district attorney, she was told the prosecutor would not speak to her.
“It was clear that they had been told we were not going to be meeting with the prosecutor or the district attorney,” Jane told ITV Granada.
She said she had been told officials were “out in the field”.
Despite the setback, Jane remains determined to persuade those with the power to act to take another look at what happened.
“I wanted to focus on trying to get the investigation reopened, appealing to the people with influence and power who can drive justice for Lucy, to look again with professional curiosity,” she said.
Jane is being supported by legal campaigner Radd Seiger, who has previously advised families involved in high-profile campaigns for justice.
He has raised questions over the original Texas investigation, including why officers did not breathalyse Kris Harrison after an officer reportedly detected alcohol on his breath and why the trajectory of the fatal bullet was not properly examined.
“There isn’t a shred of doubt in my mind… that this was not a thorough and complete investigation. They have to redo this,” Mr Seiger said.
The campaign comes after a series of developments which have seen the case receive growing attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
In February this year, the Cheshire coroner concluded that Lucy had been unlawfully killed, with the circumstances of her death described as grossly negligent.
Her family has since repeatedly questioned why no criminal prosecution followed in Texas.
The campaign has also attracted political support.
Warrington South MP Sarah Hall has previously called for greater Government support for Lucy’s family, while Jane has sought the backing of Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
A meeting with the Foreign Office in September also marked what Jane described as an important breakthrough after months of feeling that her family had not been heard.
She was joined by Charlotte Charles, the mother of Harry Dunn, who campaigned for justice after her son was killed by a US citizen in the UK.
Following that meeting, Jane said she finally felt the British Government was listening and would support her campaign.
But the latest trip to Texas has underlined the scale of the battle still facing the family.
Jane has previously spoken about the devastating impact of having to campaign for justice while grieving for her daughter.
She has described feeling as though she has been forced into becoming an activist for Lucy when all she really wants is to be her mum.
For the Harrison family, the central question remains unanswered: “why was a 23-year-old Warrington woman shot dead in her father’s home – and why has nobody been held criminally responsible?”
The Texas authorities have previously declined to prosecute Kris Harrison after the grand jury decision.
The latest campaign is now seeking to persuade prosecutors to reconsider the evidence and reopen the investigation.
For Jane, the journey to Texas is not simply about reopening a case.
It is about ensuring her daughter is not forgotten.
“I simply want the truth,” she has said.
And despite the latest setback, she remains determined to keep fighting for Lucy.
