Woman held at gunpoint by robbers at Willowbrook vape shop while daughter watches

HOUSTON – A woman working at a smoke shop in north Houston was robbed at gunpoint while her young daughter was in the store with her.

The robbery happened last Friday around 7:40 p.m. at the Mango Island Smoke Shop on Grant Road in the Willowbrook area while Daphne Stevenson was the sole employee inside the store.

At least two men walked in the front door and appeared to be shopping.

“One already has a ski mask on, one has a backpack on,” Stevenson said. “I did say, hey, we can’t have ski mask on here, so can you take it off? The fool took it off. He literally lifted it down. The other friend, he didn’t have no mask on, just full blown face. He was just talking to me, kind of distract me.”

Security camera video shows Daphne’s young daughter behind the counter with her.

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One of the men pulls out a gun and points it at the employee while the other reaches over the counter and stuffs the products into their backpack.

“My life flashed before my eyes. I’m thinking that I’m going to die,” she said.

Meanwhile, the mother and daughter were in the back stock room where the other guy continued to rummage through recently received inventory, according to the shop’s owner.

Security camera recordings capture the robber giving Stevenson orders to stand still and not talk.

“Stay right there. Stay right there,” he said. “If you move I’m going to pop your kid.”

“Threatened to shoot her. He said, I’m going to pop her,” Stevenson said.

They just got in roughly $9,500 worth of product in a shipment from several suppliers.

The employee and shop owners filed a report with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The owners said they’ve been victimized by robberies on several occasions in recent months.

“The past couple of months, these guys have showed up maybe 4 or 5 times,” said Hamza Amir, who owns the Mango Island Smoke Shop. “I.. I.. I’m just baffled at this. How can somebody be so stupid?”

Do you have information that could help detectives make an arrest? Submit an anonymous tip to the Crime Stoppers of Houston by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477) or on their website.