A 16-year-old Indianapolis gang member known by the nickname “Hell Head” has been charged with murder in adult court more than a year after police say he shot a 24-year-old man during a robbery on Temple Avenue.
FOX59 News reporter Max Lewis said the case began in April 2025, when officers found 24-year-old Wilson Astreide shot and lying in the middle of the street in the 300 block of North Temple Avenue. At the time of the shooting, the suspect, Richard Williams, was 15 years old, according to the report.
Lewis reported that Astreide survived for several months after the shooting, but later died from complications tied to his injuries. After the coroner ruled the death a homicide, prosecutors elevated the case and Williams was waived into adult court.
Williams is now facing charges that include murder, robbery, aggravated battery and criminal recklessness.
A Shooting On Temple Avenue
According to Lewis’ report, Indianapolis police were called to Temple Avenue in April 2025 and found Astreide shot in the street.
Astreide was still able to tell investigators what had happened. He said he had gone to the area to give a girl a ride when two people walked up to his vehicle and took his keys.
When he went after them, he told investigators, they shot him, got into his car and drove away.
That detail makes the case especially troubling because, if prosecutors’ account is accurate, this was not a sudden fight that got out of hand. It was a confrontation that began with a setup, continued with a robbery, and ended with a young man suffering life-changing injuries before eventually dying months later.
Lewis said police later found surveillance cameras in the area that helped them trace the suspects’ movements. Those videos would become a major part of the investigation, especially after detectives connected Williams to another shooting days later.
A Second Shooting At A Gas Station
Lewis reported that about a week after the Temple Avenue shooting, police were called to a Phillips 66 gas station at 25th Street and Sherman Drive for another shooting.
In that case, detectives said surveillance cameras captured Williams pulling out two guns and firing at a sedan parked near one of the gas pumps.
Witnesses gave police a description of the suspect, and officers found Williams a short distance away. Lewis said Williams was wearing a camouflage head covering when he was taken into custody.
That head covering became an important clue because surveillance images from the Temple Avenue investigation showed the suspected shooter wearing the same type of camouflage head cover.
According to Lewis, that arrest helped detectives begin connecting the dots between the two shootings. It also raised a larger question that IMPD officials later addressed directly: how a 15-year-old had access to firearms and was allegedly using them in violent crimes across the city.
Detectives Connect The Evidence
Lewis reported that police found surveillance video showing Williams and an accomplice walking near the Temple Avenue home shortly before Astreide was shot.
Investigators also found an online photo that appeared to show Williams with a gun tucked below his waistband. But according to Lewis, the strongest evidence came from messages exchanged online.
Court records cited in the report said Williams asked a friend to lure Astreide to Temple Avenue. Once Astreide arrived, police say Williams shot him and then stole his car, later dumping it in a nearby driveway.
That alleged planning is one of the most serious parts of the case. It suggests prosecutors are not only accusing Williams of being present or getting caught up in a chaotic moment, but of taking part in a setup that led directly to Astreide being shot.
Astreide was shot in the neck and rendered a quadriplegic, according to the report. He died months later in a Richmond hospital, and his death was ruled a homicide caused by complications from the shooting.
When a victim survives for months after a violent attack, the public sometimes loses track of the original case. But the legal system does not necessarily treat the passage of time as a break in the chain. If the injuries from the shooting caused the death, prosecutors can still pursue murder charges.
Known As ‘Hell Head’
Lewis reported that court documents identified Williams as a member of a gang called Project Babies Thuggin, also known as PBT.
Those same documents said Williams went by the nickname “Hell Head.”
That detail is not just a dramatic label. In cases involving alleged gang activity, nicknames, social media posts, photos, messages and group ties can all become pieces of the broader investigation. Detectives often use them to show relationships, identity, motive or patterns of behavior.
Still, the central accusation remains direct: prosecutors say Williams shot Astreide during a robbery and was later connected to another shooting at a gas station.
The fact that Williams was only 15 at the time of the alleged crimes makes the case difficult to process. It is hard to hear about a teenager being charged as an adult, but it is also hard to ignore the seriousness of the allegations and the life that was lost.
IMPD Says Age Will Not Stop Accountability
IMPD Officer Tommy Thompson told FOX59 that the case was deeply disappointing because of the suspect’s age and the alleged motive behind the violence.
“Why does a 15-year-old have a firearm and think it’s just to go shoot a person because they want something from that person?” Thompson said in Lewis’ report. “That’s the disappointing part.”
Thompson said the work done by detectives should send a warning to others who may be thinking about committing similar crimes.
“If you commit these crimes in our community, it does not matter how old you are,” Thompson said. “We will find you and we will hold you accountable for your actions.”
He added that police would not tolerate that kind of reckless behavior in the community.
Those comments capture the frustration many cities face when juveniles are accused of serious gun crimes. The age of the suspect forces hard questions about prevention, parenting, gangs, schools and access to weapons, but the harm done to victims and families is immediate and permanent.
There is no easy way to balance those realities. A 15-year-old is still young enough to raise questions about how he got to that point, but a 24-year-old man is dead, and the justice system is now treating the case as an adult murder prosecution.
A Case Now In Adult Court
Lewis reported that Williams is being held in the Marion County Jail and was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges.
The move to adult court marks a major turn in the case. Adult court carries more serious consequences, and prosecutors will now be expected to prove the murder charge and the related counts through the evidence gathered by detectives.
For Astreide’s family, the court process may bring some measure of accountability, but it cannot undo the months of suffering after the shooting or the final loss that followed.
For the wider community, the case is another painful reminder of how quickly guns in the hands of teenagers can turn robberies, disputes and gang activity into lasting tragedy.
Lewis’ report shows how investigators built the case piece by piece: the Temple Avenue shooting, the later gas station shooting, the camouflage head covering, surveillance footage, online images and messages that allegedly showed a plan to lure the victim.
It is a grim chain of evidence, but it also shows why detectives kept working long after the first shooting scene cleared. The charge filed now is not only about what happened on one night in April 2025. It is about what happened afterward, when Astreide’s injuries eventually took his life and a shooting case became a murder case.
Williams will now face those allegations in adult court, where prosecutors say they intend to hold him accountable for a crime that began when he was 15 and ended with a 24-year-old man dead.
Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
