William Reaves, 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran on Death Row, has been executed by lethal injection in Florida despite a last-minute bid from more than 100 fellow veterans
A 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran has been executed in Florida despite a last-minute appeal for clemency from more than 100 fellow veterans. William Reaves was sentenced to death for the murder of an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy in 1986.
Reaves’ execution is Florida’s 18th this year and the eighth involving a prisoner over the age of 70. He was given a three-drug lethal injection at Florida Stake Prison at 6.12pm local time.
Florida carried out a record 19 executions in 2025, which could be matched another prisoner scheduled to die in November is executed. Defending the state’s aggressive capital punishment timeline, outgoing Governor Ron DeSantis – whose term concludes in January – maintained that justice for victims’ families is long overdue after decades of waiting.
However, Reaves’ defense team highlighted a critical oversight in his trial. Jurors were kept in the dark about his 100% disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which was granted due to severe post-traumatic stress disorder incurred during his combat service in Vietnam.
In addition to a last-ditch plea from over a century of fellow service members dispatched to DeSantis on Monday, Reaves’ legal team targeted Florida’s controversial three-drug lethal injection process – comprising a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a cardiac-arresting drug.
Though the Florida Supreme Court threw out his state appeals last week in line with its precedent on the lethal cocktail, a final petition was left sitting before the US Supreme Court.
The murder traces back to September 1986 at a Vero Beach convenience store, where Deputy Richard Raczkowski responded to a 911 call made by Reaves from a nearby payphone. Court records show that while the men spoke, a firearm slipped from Reaves’ shorts.
A chaotic fight for the weapon ensued, ending with Reaves regaining control and firing four rounds into Raczkowski as the deputy tried to run. Raczkowski later succumbed to the gunshot wounds.
Reaves was originally handed a death sentence in 1987, but the state Supreme Court tossed the verdict over a prosecutor conflict of interest. A 1992 retrial yielded the same result and he was given a second death sentence.
Florida’s execution surge under DeSantis has seen the state account for more than half of the nation’s 31 executions this year, building on its country-leading totals from 2025. This acceleration included a rare double execution in July – the first instance of a state executing two inmates on a single day in nearly 10 years.
The state’s execution chamber is set to be used again on November 5 for 64-year-old Jesse Guardado, who was convicted for the 2004 robbery and murder of a woman to fund a drug habit.
Should Guardado’s execution go forward, Florida will tie its previous record of 19 executions in a calendar year.
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