In February 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that a man in Texas fatally shot his daughter Lucy Harrison after they argued about then-President elect Donald Trump.
One X account sharing the story posted, "🚨🇺🇸 BREAKING — MAGA Dad Shot and Killed his Daughter After Argument about Trump."
(X user @PamphletsY)
Posts about the alleged killing also circulated on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived).
On Feb. 11, 2026, an inquest (Page 9) Â found Lucy Harrison died "due to unlawful killing on the grounds of gross negligence manslaughter" on Jan. 10, 2025. The 23-year-old woman's father, Kris Harrison, reportedly claimed his gun went off accidentally while he was showing it to his daughter.
Speaking at the inquest, Lucy Harrison's partner Sam Littler said that, before the shooting, the father and daughter had a "big argument" (archived) about Trump, the BBC reported. The inquest did not directly link the Harrisons' argument to the fatal shooting or establish a motive for the reported manslaughter.
We gathered as much information as possible about the incident, including Lucy Harrison's autopsy report by the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office and the inquest summartion from the Cheshire Coroner's Court. We contacted the Prosper Police Department and the Collin County district attorney's office for their records related to her death and await replies to our queries.
In the meantime, we leave this claim unrated. Here's what we know:
Partner said father and daughter clashed over Trump
According to the BBC's report on the inquest into Lucy Harrison's death that cited Littler, he and Harrison were due to fly home to Warrington, England, on Jan. 10, 2025, the day of the fatal shooting.Â
Littler said Harrison and her father had a "big argument" about Trump that morning, when she reportedly asked her father, "How would you feel if I was the girl in that situation and I'd been sexually assaulted?"
The BBC reported: "Kris Harrison had replied that he had two other daughters who lived with him so it would not upset him that much."
It was not clear from reports which "situation" Lucy Harrison was referring to or how it related to Trump. The inquest summation from Cheshire Coroner's Court said Littler told the inquest about a "big argument" but did not recount the exact details in the BBC's report.
Later, according to Littler and a reported statement from Kris Harrison, Harrison took his daughter into his bedroom to show her his Glock 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.
A statement from Harrison presented at the inquest reportedly said, "As I lifted the gun to show her I suddenly heard a loud bang. I did not understand what had happened. Lucy immediately fell." The BBC reported that Harrison couldn't remember whether his finger had been on the trigger.
'Reckless' actions led to Lucy's death
According to the Collin County Medical Examiner's investigation, Lucy Harrison died from a gunshot wound in her chest, and the gun fired at "medium range." The medical examiner ruled she died by homicide. (Snopes received and reviewed the autopsy report from the medical examiner's office.)
Authorities in the U.S. did not carry out an inquest into Harrison's death. An inquest is a judicial fact-finding inquiry where a court attempts to determine a cause of death. In the U.K., the process is generally led by a coroner.
On Feb. 11, 2026, Cheshire Senior Coroner Jacqueline Devonish concluded the court's inquest into Harrison's death, finding that Harrison died "due to unlawful killing on the grounds of gross negligence manslaughter."Â
Gross negligence manslaughter is a criminal offense in the U.K. that suggests a defendant has either done or failed to do something that amounts to negligence.Â
In the Feb. 11 inquest summation, Devonish said (Page 9) Lucy Harrison's wound could only have occurred "with the gun being pointed directly at her across the room." Devonish added that such behavior "was 'gross' due to the existence of a reasonably foreseeable and obvious risk of death."
Kris Harrison reportedly said in a statement that his gun went off when he was lifting it to show his daughter. Devonish appeared to dismiss this claim, saying of Harrison (Page 7):
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.
Devonish said in the inquest summation (Page 7) Kris Harrison's actions "have killed his own daughter." An inquest does not assign criminal guilt or civil liability.Â
No prosecution in Texas
Kris Harrison has not been charged in the U.S. in connection with the shooting of his daughter. According to reports in British media, a grand jury in Collin County declined to indict him in 2025. We contacted the district attorney's office there to ask why the grand jury declined to indict Harrison and await a reply.
According to the Offences against the Person Act, Kris Harrison could be tried for manslaughter in the U.K. if he was still a British citizen. It was unclear at the time of this writing if he was, or if British prosecutors were pursuing this possibility. Some news reports said he was a U.S. citizen, meaning extradition to stand trial in the U.K. was unlikely.
After the inquest concluded, Lucy Harrison's mother, Jane Coates, reportedly told (archived) local media:Â
I never imagined she would be shot and killed in the US, in a place where she should have been safe. We respectfully accept that our two cultures are different in regards to firearms, yet we feel Texas gun laws did not keep Lucy safe from harm.