Florida is scheduled to execute 77-year-old Army veteran William Reaves for the 1986 murder of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski. The lethal injection is slated to begin at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. This scheduled lethal injection marks the 18th execution carried out in the state this year under Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Court records detail the events of September 1986, when Deputy Raczkowski responded to a 911 call placed from a payphone at a Vero Beach convenience store by Reaves himself. Investigators state that during their interaction, a firearm fell from Reaves’ shorts, triggering a physical struggle over the weapon. According to authorities, Reaves regained control of the gun and fired four shots at Raczkowski as the deputy attempted to run away. Raczkowski succumbed to his wounds.
As the execution time approached, uncertainty remained regarding potential intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, where final appeals were pending. Defense attorneys argued in court filings that the original jurors who recommended a death sentence were never informed that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had rated Reaves as 100% disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his military service in the Vietnam War. Additionally, more than 100 veterans submitted a letter to Gov. DeSantis requesting a halt to the execution, though state officials did not signal whether clemency would be granted.
Reaves’ legal history spans decades. He was initially convicted and sentenced to death roughly a year after the shooting, but the Florida Supreme Court overturned that ruling because of a prosecutor’s conflict of interest. He faced retrial, resulting in a second conviction and death sentence in 1992, which was followed by decades of unsuccessful appeals. Just prior to the scheduled date, the Florida Supreme Court rejected his final state-level appeals, which included challenges directed at the state’s lethal injection protocol.
Florida administers the death penalty using a three-drug cocktail comprising a sedative, a paralytic, and a heart-stopping drug. This method contrasts with the single-drug injection protocols utilized in other jurisdictions, such as Tennessee.
State execution statistics highlight Florida’s frequent use of capital punishment. The state has accounted for more than half of the 31 total executions carried out nationwide so far this year. In July, Florida marked a rare milestone by executing two prisoners on a single day, becoming the first state to do so in nearly a decade. The state previously set a modern record last year by carrying out 19 executions out of 47 nationwide, and another execution is already on the calendar for Nov. 5, when 64-year-old Jesse Guardado is set to face execution for a 2004 robbery and murder.
