Florida executes William Reaves, its 18th prisoner this year

Florida executed William Reaves on Tuesday for the 1986 killing of a sheriff’s deputy, bringing the state within one execution of the annual record it set last year.

Reaves, 77, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. after a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He had been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski.

The Guardian reported that Reaves was strapped to a gurney when the death chamber curtain opened at 6 p.m. Asked whether he had a last statement, he replied, “No, I do not.” The injection began immediately afterward. About 30 seconds later, he took several large breaths and stopped moving. After several minutes, the team warden shook his shoulders and called his name, but Reaves did not respond. A medic checked him for signs of life before he was pronounced dead.

According to court records, Raczkowski responded to a 911 call at a Vero Beach convenience store in September 1986. Reaves later acknowledged making the call from a payphone outside the store. As the two spoke, a gun fell from Reaves’ shorts, officials said. They struggled over it, and Reaves regained control. Investigators said Raczkowski was trying to run away when Reaves shot him four times. The deputy died from his wounds.

Reaves was convicted and sentenced to death about a year later. The Florida Supreme Court overturned that conviction because of a conflict of interest involving the prosecutor and ordered a new trial. Reaves was convicted again and sentenced to death in 1992.

His lawyers challenged Florida’s execution method and argued that jurors who recommended the death penalty had not been told the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rated him 100% disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his Army service in the Vietnam War. More than 100 veterans sent Gov. Ron DeSantis a letter Monday urging him to halt the execution.

Florida administers a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart in its executions, according to the state Department of Corrections. The Florida Supreme Court has previously upheld that protocol against similar challenges and rejected Reaves’ final state appeals last week. The Guardian reported that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal Tuesday afternoon without comment.

Reaves was the eighth Florida prisoner over 70 executed this year. The state carried out a record 19 executions in 2025, when 47 people were executed nationwide. CBS News reported that Florida’s 18 executions accounted for more than half of 31 executions nationwide so far this year; The Guardian put the national total at 32. Florida executed two prisoners on one day in July, the first state to do so in nearly a decade.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January, has said he wants to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out. Jesse Guardado, 64, is scheduled for execution on Nov. 5. He was convicted of robbing and killing a woman in 2004 to buy drugs. If that execution proceeds, Florida will tie last year’s record.