Florida executes 77-year-old Vietnam veteran William Reaves
Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year, putting to death 77-year-old William Reaves, a Vietnam veteran convicted of a 1986 murder, after state and federal courts denied his final appeals.
Florida performed its 18th execution of 2025 on Tuesday, pronouncing 77-year-old William Reaves dead at 6:12 p.m. after a three-drug lethal-injection protocol at a state prison near Starke. Reaves, a Vietnam veteran, had been convicted of first-degree murder for the 1986 shooting death of Indian River County deputy Richard Raczkowski. When asked for a final statement, he declined.
The execution proceeded according to schedule, with Reaves strapped to a gurney and an IV in place. After the injection began, he took several deep breaths before ceasing movement. Prison staff attempted to elicit a response, and a medic later confirmed the absence of a heartbeat, leading officials to declare him dead.
Reaves is the eighth Florida inmate over age 70 executed this year, reflecting the state’s high execution rate. Florida set a state record of 19 executions in 2023 and could match that number again if a scheduled execution proceeds next month. Governor Ron DeSantis, who will leave office in January after two terms, has said his administration aims to provide closure for victims’ families.
The case stemmed from a 1986 incident in which Reaves placed a 911 call from a payphone, encountered Deputy Raczkowski, and a struggle over a firearm resulted in the deputy being shot four times. Reaves was sentenced to death in 1987, but the conviction was overturned due to a prosecutor conflict of interest; a retrial in 1992 reaffirmed the death sentence.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Reaves’ final appeal on Tuesday, and the Florida Supreme Court had earlier denied requests to halt the execution. Defense counsel raised concerns about the lethal-injection protocol—a three-drug cocktail of a sedative, a paralytic, and a heart-stopping agent—and argued that jurors were not informed of Reaves’ 100 % disability rating for post-traumatic stress disorder by the Department of Veterans Affairs. More than 100 veterans sent a letter to Governor DeSantis urging a stay of the execution.
Nationally, 47 people have been executed in 2025. Florida accounted for more than half of the 32 executions carried out in the United States so far this year. The next scheduled execution in the state is that of Jesse Guardado, 64, slated for 5 November.