Police: Robbers fatally shoot 4-year-old over mom's purse

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas -- A little girl is dead and her mother and young sister are in critical condition after they were shot during an attempted robbery in Texas, according to deputies.

It all started around 8:40 p.m. Monday as a 27-year-old woman was carrying groceries to her Houston-area apartment alongside her 7- and 4-year-old daughters.

ORIGINAL REPORT: Mother, two young daughters shot during attempted robbery

A woman and her two children were shot in a robbery attempt in northern Harris County, HCSO says.

Investigators said two black men in a dark-colored sedan pulled up next to them and got out.

The men reportedly asked for the woman's purse, but she refused. That is when deputies believe one of the men shot the mother and her two children at close range. All three were rushed from the Mission Falls apartment complex on Greens Crossing Boulevard to nearby Houston Northwest Hospital.

The youngest of the victims, just 4 years old, was then taken by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital because of the seriousness of her condition. Sadly, she has died from her injuries.

Her mother and 7-year-old sister are in critical condition Tuesday morning, fighting for their lives.

Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Gilliland called this heinous act "an absolute tragedy."

"A 4-year-old and a 7-year-old shot is pretty horrendous," Gilliland said. "When you have children involved, it's not a great scene to be at."

Gilliland said when criminals are desperate, we do not know what they are capable of and that things can turn violent pretty quickly, even against children.

Those suspects are still at large, and their descriptions at this point are extremely vague.