Florida is scheduled to execute William Reaves, 77, on Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke, the 18th execution the state has carried out this year under Gov. Ron DeSantis. The three-drug injection was set to begin at 6 p.m.
Reaves was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 shooting of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski, who had responded to a 911 call at a Vero Beach convenience store. Court records say the two men struggled over a gun that fell from Reaves’ shorts, and Reaves shot the deputy four times. The deputy later died. The Florida Supreme Court rejected Reaves’ final appeals last week, and appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court were still pending.
Reaves’ attorneys challenged the state’s lethal injection method and argued that jurors were not told the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had rated Reaves, an Army veteran, 100% disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder from his Vietnam War service. More than 100 veterans sent DeSantis a letter Monday asking him to halt the execution.
If Florida carries out another execution scheduled for November, the state will tie its record of 19 executions set in 2025. Reaves would be the state’s eighth prisoner over 70 executed this year. Jesse Guardado, 64, is next scheduled to die on Nov. 5.
