In the early morning hours of December 16, 2022, a grim discovery was made in the parking lot of a Shreveport, Louisiana bar. Michael Paul Grace Jr., a 61-year-old male and owner of a Texas-based billboard company, was found deceased behind a dumpster with severe head trauma. Authorities were called to the scene at the Round Bar on Youree Drive shortly after 2 a.m.
where Grace was pronounced dead.
Investigators quickly launched a homicide investigation, utilizing video surveillance from the area to piece together the events that led to Grace's death. Their investigation first led them to 50-year-old Jason Brook, who was identified as having direct knowledge of the incident. After questioning, Brook was taken into custody and booked into the Shreveport City Jail on a charge of failure to report a felony.
The primary suspect in the shooting was identified as 30-year-old William Colby Sirman of Keithville, Louisiana. As law enforcement began their search for Sirman, a separate investigation was unfolding. Around 9:45 a.m. that same morning, a citizen discovered a body in a drainage ditch at the corner of Kings Highway and Creswell Avenue. The deceased individual was later identified as Sirman.
Further investigation, including the review of additional video footage, revealed that Sirman had been riding his motorcycle at a high rate of speed shortly after the time of the shooting. It was determined that he lost control of his motorcycle while attempting to navigate a curve, resulting in a fatal crash as he fled the scene of the homicide. The Caddo Parish Coroner's Office later confirmed that Grace's death was a result of a gunshot wound to the head.
