William Sircy

A State Football champion is gunned down while chatting with friends
William “Stryker” Sircy was a young man with a full life ahead of him, known for his creative spirit and loyalty to his friends and family. The 20-year-old was a graduate of Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, where he had been a member of the state champion football team. Engaged to be married, William loved writing lyrics and cruising in his Chevy Caprice as part of the Yung Vets 317 Car Club. He was deeply loved, as reflected in a tribute from his nephew years after his death: "We were so close and then you had to go and die. Why you of all people? You were to [sic] young to go."

On the summer evening of August 20, 2005, William set out to peacefully resolve a conflict. He and some friends went to an apartment complex on the far west side of Indianapolis, in the 7300 block of Mariner Way, to meet with a man who had reportedly been causing him problems. William and the man, known by the street name 'Little Mike,' walked away from the group to have a private conversation, hoping to work out their disagreement. Some time later, William's friends made a devastating discovery. They found him inside a building, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was rushed to a local hospital, but despite undergoing surgery, William Stryker Sircy succumbed to his injuries.

The investigation was initially handled by the Marion County Sheriff's Office before the case was transferred to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's (IMPD) Unsolved Homicide Unit following a department reorganization in 2007. From the beginning, investigators have focused on the man William went to meet. This person of interest, 'Little Mike,' was described in 2005 as an 18-year-old Black male, standing approximately 6-foot-1 with a thin build and a light to medium complexion. He reportedly spoke with a southern accent and was known to frequent the Pebble Point Apartments, located near I-465 and Crawfordsville Road. Authorities released a sketch of the man they wanted to question, but he has never been publicly identified by his legal name.

For nearly two decades, William's case has remained unsolved, with no arrests made. The lack of resolution has been a heavy burden for his family, especially his mother, Sharon Grubbs. In an interview in August 2023, she shared her fears and her enduring hope. “I feel like maybe I'm running out of time,” she said, expressing the pain of waiting so long for answers. Despite the years of uncertainty, she maintains her trust in the detectives handling her son's case. “I'm doing this because, if it gets to the cold case unit, I still have faith. I still have hope that someone will come forth and someone will help our family.”

Sharon Grubbs has shared her son's story in the hope that someone who knows what happened will finally break their silence, believing that the passage of time may have changed people and their willingness to speak. "If they don't come forth for my case, maybe they'll hear me and they'll come forth for somebody else's case,” she said, turning her personal tragedy into a plea for justice for all families of homicide victims. Indianapolis is estimated to have roughly 1,000 unsolved homicide cases, a statistic that weighs heavily on families like the Sircys.

The investigation into William Sircy's murder is ongoing. His family continues to wait for the breakthrough that will bring them closure and see justice served for the young man whose future was stolen from him. A reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest. Police urge anyone with knowledge about the man known as 'Little Mike' or any information regarding the shooting of William Sircy to come forward. Tips can be called in to 317-262-8477.