HOUSTON – A father, husband and small business owner is dead after being gunned down at the liquor and tobacco store he owned in East Houston and his family is desperately hoping someone will recognize the men police say are responsible.
Marcus Roberson, 36, died Dec. 6. at his business, Grizzly Liquor and Tobacco, along Mesa Drive.
According to Houston Police, officers responded to a robbery call at the business around 4:25 a.m. that day and found Roberson, also known as Bear, with multiple gunshot wounds and dead at the scene.
For the last two months, his family told KPRC 2 they’ve had a difficult time sleeping at night. His widow believes the suspects may have targeted their business before.
“We had the last 16 years of our life together,” Roberson’s wife Ciera said. “My business partner, my traveling buddy, my best friend.”
The two married five years ago. His family said he was dedicated to their 4- and 13-year-old children.
They owned the store for the last three years, but it’s now up for lease after it became the scene of his murder.
“It’s hard to really like picture life without him or just think about moving forward,” Ciera Roberson said.
Surveillance video shows a newer, white Chevrolet Malibu circling the business in the minutes leading up to the robbery.
Then, two men with masks, hoodies, and a backpack walk to the front door of the business and use a tool to open it.
“He met them at the front of the shop and it looked like it was a tussle from what we could see,” Ciera Roberson said.
Seconds later, the same suspects are seen running from the shop, jumping in the Malibu that was driven by someone else, and speeding away.
“They say parents are supposed to die before their children, and to see your son die before you die, it’s heartbreaking,” his father-in-law Jerome Sennett said. “I can honestly say our whole family is in a depressing state of of his loss. No sleep.”
The store had been broken into several times before, Ciera Roberson said. This time, the only difference was that her husband was there working late.
She told KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry she believes the people who have been breaking into the store are connected to the people who came back on Dec. 6.
Whoever they are, she wants them in jail to pay for the destruction they’ve caused.
“It’s hard to sleep not knowing, you know, that they’re still out there and that they did this to him,” Ciera Roberson said. “We lost a huge part of our heart, our life, you know ... nothing can bring him back.”
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest or charges.