David Lammy has come under criticism from an MP for allegedly not offering adequate emotional or legal aid to the grieving family of a British graduate who was tragically killed by her father in the United States.

Lucy Harrison lost her life on January 10, 2025, when her father, Kris Harrison, a fellow Briton, accidentally shot her in the heart while showing off his firearm at his residence in Prosper, Texas.

Despite the death of the 23-year-old fashion graduate, Kris Harrison, aged 52, was not taken into custody. Lucy had plans to return to Warrington, Cheshire, with her boyfriend, Sam Littler, on the day of the incident.

It was revealed that Kris Harrison had been consuming alcohol that day. Reports suggest that Lucy, who was staunchly against firearms, had a heated exchange with her father about Donald Trump shortly before the tragic accident.

In the previous year, a Texas grand jury, responsible for assessing whether sufficient evidence exists to formally charge someone, opted not to proceed with an indictment.

Conversely, a UK coroner reached a verdict of unlawful killing in February after an inquest into Lucy Harrison’s death. This inquest reviewed police records and statements from officers, Kris Harrison, and Sam Littler.

Sarah Hall, the Labour MP for Warrington South, has joined forces with her mother Jane Coates and Mr Littler – who have been campaigning for the US to reopen the investigation. 

The MP claims the Foreign Office, under the then-foreign secretary David Lammy, failed to offer adequate legal and emotional support to the family – and did not push for answers. 

A manslaughter investigation was launched after Lucy Harrison (pictured), 23, from Warrington, Cheshire, was killed at her father’s house in Prosper, Texas, on January 10, 2025 

Ms Harrison was shot through the heart by her father Kris Harrison, a British citizen, while he was ‘showing off’ his gun

Ms Hall, who is the Labour MP where Ms Harrison lived, told a Sunday newspaper Ms Harrison’s parents Jane and Sam Coates ‘have been let down from day one by everyone’.

She said: ‘[We know from] the coroner’s report that from the trajectory of where she had been shot, there’s no other way that it could have happened other than him standing in front of her, and having pointed a gun at her’. 

The MP plans to raise Ms Harrison’s case in parliament and call on the Government to pressure US authorities to review the case. 

Ms Coates hopes the coroner’s findings around Harrison’s ‘recklessness’, while under the influence of alcohol, could lead to a fresh US investigation. 

While she does not think Harrison intended his actions, she believes he acted carelessly after drinking – which was the conclusion Cheshire coroner Jacqueline Devonish also reached. 

Bodycam footage of police arriving at the house following the shooting showed Mr Harrison saying the gun ‘went off’ as he was showing it to his daughter.

However, Cheshire Coroner’s Court heard inconsistencies in Harrison’s account were revealed by police records and statements from Ms Harrison’s friends and family.

The former Manchester Metropolitan University student was raised in a single-parent household by primary school deputy headteacher Ms Coates, who divorced Harrison when her daughter was four.

Her mother, Jane Coates (pictured arriving at the inquest), hopes the coroner’s findings around Harrison’s ‘recklessness’, while under the influence of alcohol, could lead to a fresh US investigation

Ms Harrison’s boyfriend Sam Littler (pictured, arriving at court) said she had argued with her father about Donald Trump on the morning of her death

Ms Harrison remained in touch with her father, former CEO of a telecoms company, who moved to Saudi Arabia and later Texas. In the US, he remarried and had two daughters with second wife Heather.

She regularly visited him and her half-sisters during the summer and at Christmas.

But the inquest heard she expressed concern to friends about her father owning a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the house where her siblings lived.

Harrison, who had no licence or training, bought the pistol for $500 (£370) two years before his daughter’s death – but in Texas, owning a firearm at home without a licence is legal for self-defence.

Mr Littler, Ms Harrison’s boyfriend of five years, recalled how on the morning of the tragedy she and her father argued about sexual assault claims against Donald Trump.

He said Ms Harrison asked her father: ‘How would you feel if I was the girl and I’d been sexually assaulted?’.

Ms Harrison was ‘left upset’ when her father replied ‘he had two other daughters so it would not bother him much’.

Later in the afternoon, Mr Littler said Harrison led his daughter into his bedroom, telling her ‘I have a gun, do you want to see it?’

She was visiting her father, Kris Harrison, who lives in Texas (Pictured: Kris Harrison’s home)

Sarah Hall, the Labour MP for Warrington South, has joined forces with her mother Jane Coates and Mr Littler – who have been campaigning for the US to reopen the investigation

Seconds later, there was a loud bang and Harrison screamed for his wife, Heather.

Mr Littler, who called 911, recalled how while he was speaking to emergency services, Harrison spoke out but never said Ms Harrison had been shot – instead claiming she had passed out.

After reviewing the US post-mortem examination report and other police statements, the UK coroner ruled: ‘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 pulled the trigger. I find this action to be reckless.’

Ms Hall criticised Prosper police’s handling of the case, which she described as being ‘absolutely rushed’, and questioned why Harrison was not breathalysed despite an officer reportedly smelling alcohol on his breath.

She added that police failed to conduct proper interviews or follow-up with initial interviews held hours after Ms Harrison’s death.

The MP wrote to Mr Lammy in February expressing ‘very serious concerns’ about how the case was handled by both US and UK authorities – and added the ‘lack of support’ the family received from the Foreign Office.

This included consular officers failing to explain crucial aspects of the US justice system to the family, including the role of the grand jury. 

At one stage the Foreign Office withdrew access to support services typically offered to families of homicide victims, including emotional and legal assistance.

Although the power to investigate Ms Harrison’s death remains with American authorities, a Foreign Office caseworker told Ms Coates in March last year it had the authority to intervene if there is a ‘high level of complexity’.

This followed Ms Coates lodging a complaint, in which she said the Government had failed to guide her through the available support. The Foreign Office justified this by describing the case as being ‘uniquely complex’.

The Foreign Office also failed to maintain contact with US authorities regarding the progression of the investigation. 

Ms Hall said, despite the individualistic nature of the case, she would have expected the Foreign Office to assist the family. 

The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.