My daughter was shot dead by her father. Why wasn’t he arrested?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jane Coates’ daughter Lucy was just 23 when she was shot and killed by her father, while visiting him in Texas. US authorities quickly ruled her death an accident and no charges were brought. But as The Sunday Times reveals holes in Lucy’s father’s account, Jane wants the case reopened.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory
Guest:
- Katie Tarrant, news reporter for The Sunday Times
- Jane Coates, victim’s mother
- Sam Littler, victim’s boyfriend and witness
Host: Manveen Rana
Producers: Julia Webster
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more:
Britain failed family’ of girl shot dead by father in Texas
Father shot daughter dead after ‘arguing about Donald Trump
Photo: Picture provided by the family, graphic by Kathia Mestanza
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 0:06.3 | I'm Manvine Rana. |
| 0:12.6 | On January the 10th, 2025, Jane Coates was expecting her daughter, Lucy Harrison, |
| 0:20.6 | to return from a holiday in Texas with her boyfriend Sam Littler. |
| 0:25.0 | They'd spent Christmas there, visiting Lucy's father, Chris, in a little town called Prosper. |
| 0:30.8 | An appropriate name for an affluent suburban Texas. |
| 0:35.3 | Before going to bed, Jane received a text message from Lucy, saying she was all packed up. |
| 0:41.7 | Jane typed back, I'm going to bed now, let me know if you want me to pick you and Sam up from the airport. |
| 0:47.9 | Love you lots. |
| 0:50.1 | With that, she went to sleep. |
| 0:53.8 | But just a few hours later, she was suddenly woken up. |
| 0:59.8 | It was about 2 o'clock in the morning. |
| 1:02.2 | And I was woken up to bangs, went down the stairs. |
| 1:07.1 | And it was Sam's mum, Helen, and she kind of shouted through the door. |
| 1:11.0 | Jane, it's Sam's mum Helen, let me in. |
| 1:14.4 | Lucy's boyfriend's mother was outside, completely distraught. |
| 1:22.6 | So I opened the door. |
| 1:24.9 | She just took me by by my arms and just said, like, really clearly for me, |
| 1:33.3 | there's been an accident, Lucy's been shot, she's not made it. |
| 1:40.8 | Just ran upstairs, she got a shouting no. |
| 1:45.0 | And Helen ran up behind me. |
| 1:47.0 | I remember sitting on the bed. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.