Felicia Cansino, 49, shown standing behind the bar at Richardson’s Good Vibes Bar & Grill. She called herself a “day-oner,” having started there when the bar opened in 2020.
Courtesy of Felicia Cansino
Felicia Cansino bartended for over 15 years. In early May, what should’ve been a regular shift at Richardson’s Good Vibes Bar & Grill changed her life forever when she was stabbed seven times by a man she’d only met once.
Cansino, 49, started her shift on May 6 shortly before 6 p.m. She said it was a pretty steady, fun night, and bar regulars had come to play music bingo.
While everyone was preparing for the last game of the night, Cansino said she noticed someone else walk into the bar. “I’ll be right with you,” she told him.
Article continues below this ad
When she looked up, Cansino recognized him immediately. The two had met in February at Good Vibes, where she said she refused to serve him after he threw his ID and cash at her. Police later identified him as 28-year-old Stephen Kwembe.
“There was something dark in his eyes… like he wanted to hurt me then, too, but I didn’t give it any more thought after that,” Cansino said, recalling their first meeting. “Until he walked back in that night.”
Kwembe would go on to attack Cansino and several bar patrons who helped her before he was shot and killed by police shortly after 10 p.m.
Related: Family lays to rest mother, son who died in Oak Cliff fire
Body-worn camera footage from that day shows Richardson police officers talking to Kwembe outside the bar after the attack and repeatedly ordering him to drop the knife. Kwembe then advances toward two officers while still armed, prompting the officers to fire their weapons.
Article continues below this ad
Dispatch audio of the hours beforehand revealed Kwembe had called a Garland police non-emergency line and said he was going to the bar to kill people who had wronged him and anyone who tried to intervene.
“Do you remember me?” Kwembe asked Cansino. “You didn’t serve me last time.”
Kwembe then jumped over the bar and cornered her. She said Kwembe told her that night was when she was going to die. The only thing Cansino could find to defend herself was a mop. That didn’t help, Cansino said.
He stabbed her twice in the stomach, twice in the back and three times along her left hand and arm before three men hopped over to pull him off her. They were also injured.
The exterior of Good Vibes Bar & Grill in Richardson, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Cansino said the moments after Kwembe was pulled away from her remain somewhat blurry. She knows the first thing she asked for was her phone to call her mom and that a female officer was the first to get to her once responders arrived. She distinctly remembers the “ting” of her bar key falling out of her pocket as she was helped to the ambulance.
Article continues below this ad
Most everything else, she said, is fleeting snippets of color, sound and moments until she was taken into surgery.
Surgeons removed a portion of her small intestine that night. She had a broken bone and torn tendon in her wrist. Three months later, she’s still recovering.
Cansino said she goes to physical therapy twice a week in an attempt to regain movement in parts of her left hand. A long, pinkish scar stretches from her index finger, which she still can’t fully bend or straighten, to the top of her wrist.
The hardest thing by far, she said, is healing from the mental trauma. She has a psychiatrist, regularly attends therapy and has been prescribed medication for anxiety, none of which she’s had experience with before, she said.
She said she’s been out of work since the attack and had to move in with her daughter. She’s still scared, sometimes just to leave the house and other times for her family. “Just because you never know what’s going to happen,” Cansino said.
Article continues below this ad
Related: Family looking for answers after young couple killed in Dallas shooting
Cansino said people experiencing something similar should not take shame in asking for help and to not give up, despite the long road ahead.
“You won’t be the same person, but you will be a different version of that person. Not just a piece,” Cansino said.
She’s kept in touch with the three men she says saved her life that night. One lost a kidney and another was stabbed in the chest. She said she talks to the third regularly. He was also stabbed seven times.
They’re all in different stages of recovery, she said, but she feels fortunate they all survived.
Article continues below this ad
Someday, she hopes to go back to bartending at Good Vibes. Every day was different at the bar, she said, and overall, she loved the connections she’d made there.
“I don’t want to give him the control of taking away something I enjoy,” she said.
Mental health resources
The Here For Texas Mental Health Navigation Line connects North Texans with mental health resources customized to each caller at 972-525-8181 or HereForTexas.com.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has a 24-hour crisis hotline at 800-273-8255. A confidential online chat is also available at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
The Crisis Text Line offers 24-hour support. Text “HOME” to 741741 or find more information at crisistextline.org.
Article continues below this ad
More here: Inspirational stories