Florida executed 77-year-old death row inmate William Reaves on Tuesday evening, marking the state’s 18th execution of the year and continuing an accelerated pace of carrying out death warrants under Governor Ron DeSantis. Reaves was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Reaves had been condemned for the first-degree murder of Richard Raczkoski, an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy, in a 1986 shooting. According to court records, the incident began on September 23, 1986, when Raczkoski responded to a 911 call placed by Reaves at a Vero Beach convenience store. Investigators stated that a gun fell from Reaves’ clothing during the encounter, sparking a struggle. Authorities said the deputy was attempting to flee when Reaves shot him four times, resulting in fatal injuries.
The execution drew sharply contrasting reactions from law enforcement and the victim’s family. Marc Raczkoski, the slain deputy’s brother, told reporters after witnessing the procedure that his brother had finally received justice. However, Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers expressed dissatisfaction during a post-execution press briefing, criticizing the peaceful nature of the procedure given the passage of time. “Would we all be so lucky to be 77 years old and to die so peacefully? That’s not justice in any way, in my opinion,” Flowers said, describing the outcome as closure rather than true justice.
Reaves’ legal team mounted late challenges attempting to halt the execution. His attorneys argued against Florida’s lethal injection protocol and contended that the original jurors who recommended a death sentence were never informed that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had determined Reaves was 100 percent disabled due to service-related post-traumatic stress disorder from his military service in Vietnam. More than 100 military veterans also petitioned DeSantis for clemency, but the governor did not intervene. Both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stay the execution.
Data compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center indicate that Reaves spent 34 years on death row following his sentencing, a timeline reflective of a broader national trend toward aging prison populations awaiting capital punishment. Reaves was the eighth Florida prisoner age 70 or older put to death this year, drawing renewed scrutiny to the humanitarian and practical implications of executing elderly and frail inmates after decades of appeals. While capital punishment supporters argue that extensive legal reviews are essential for constitutional protections and avoiding wrongful convictions, opponents maintain that carrying out executions at such an advanced age raises serious humanitarian questions about the purpose of the penalty.
Florida’s current trajectory has established it as a national outlier in capital punishment. The state has accounted for 18 of the 32 executions carried out across the United States this year, according to Death Penalty Information Center data. This follows a state-record 19 executions in 2025 under DeSantis’s administration.
State corrections officials have scheduled another execution for November 5 involving inmate Jesse Guardado. If that scheduled procedure proceeds, Florida will tie the record 19 executions carried out during the previous year.
