Florida puts 77-year-old man to death for a deputy’s killing in its 18th execution this year

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year on Tuesday under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ aggressive use of the death penalty in his final term.

William Reaves, 77, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 shooting death of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski.

The death chamber curtain went up promptly at the 6 p.m. execution time, and Reaves was already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm. Asked if he had any last statement, he replied ”No, I do not.”

The injection began immediately after that. About 30 seconds later, Reaves took several big breaths and then stopped moving. After a few minutes, the team warden shook Reaves’ shoulders and yelled his name, but there was no response.

A medic was called into the chamber a short time later to check for a heartbeat or any other signs of life, and Reaves was pronounced dead about a minute later.

Reaves was the eight Florida prisoner over age 70 put to death this year, highlighting the nation’s aging death-row population as Florida continues to far outpace the rest of country in total executions.

Last year, Florida set a state record with 19 executions in a single year and it would tie that mark if another execution is carried out next month as scheduled.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January after two terms, has said his goal is to deliver justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.

Reaves struggled with a deputy after dropping a gun

Raczkowski responded to a 911 call at a Vero Beach convenience store in September 1986, according to court records. Reaves later acknowledged he had placed the call from a payphone outside the store.

While Raczkowski and Reaves spoke, a gun fell out of Reaves’ shorts, officials said. The two struggled over the weapon, and Reaves eventually regained control of it. Investigators said the deputy was trying to run away when Reaves shot him four times. The deputy later died from his wounds.

Reaves was convicted and sentenced to death about a year after the shooting. But the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction because of a conflict of interest with the prosecutor and ordered a new trial. Reaves was convicted again and sentenced to death in 1992, and subsequent appeals were unsuccessful.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon rejected Reaves’ final appeal without comment.

Lawyers challenged lethal injection procedure

The Florida Supreme Court last week also rejected Reaves’ appeals to spare his life.

One issue raised by his attorneys was Florida’s method of execution. All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

The court has previously upheld this lethal injection protocol against similar challenges. It differs from the single-drug injection used by states such as Tennessee, where death row inmate Christa Pike was rushed to the hospital last month after surviving two lethal doses of pentobarbital.

Defense attorneys also argued that the jurors who recommended the death penalty for Reaves were never told that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rated Reaves — an Army veteran — as 100% disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder, which was caused by his service in the Vietnam War. More than 100 veterans sent DeSantis a letter Monday urging him to stop the execution.

Florida is close to matching last year’s record-setting numbers

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Besides leading all other states last year, Florida has carried out more than half the 32 total executions in the U.S. so far this year. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Jesse Guardado, 64, is next scheduled to die by injection in Florida on Nov. 5. He was convicted of robbing and killing a woman in order to buy drugs in 2004.

David Fischer, The Associated Press