Florida Executes Deputy Killer as State Nears Annual Record
WHO:
ABC News - William Reaves would be Florida’s eighth prisoner over age 70 executed that year.
CBS News US - Florida executed a man who killed a deputy after fighting for a gun.
CBS News US - The execution was Florida’s 18th of the year under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
ABC News - William Reaves, 77, was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski.
ABC News - Reaves was an Army veteran whom the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rated 100% disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his Vietnam War service.
ABC News - More than 100 veterans sent DeSantis a letter asking him to stop Reaves’ execution.
ABC News - Jesse Guardado, 64, was scheduled to be Florida’s next prisoner executed by injection; he was convicted of robbing and killing a woman to buy drugs.
WHAT:
ABC News - Florida’s execution pace highlighted the nation’s aging death-row population and outpaced other states.
CBS News US - Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year.
ABC News - Reaves was sentenced to death for Raczkowski’s 1986 shooting. Florida’s Supreme Court overturned his initial conviction over a prosecutor’s conflict of interest and ordered a new trial; Reaves was convicted and sentenced to death again in 1992.
ABC News - The Florida Supreme Court rejected Reaves’ final appeals; appeals were still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
ABC News - Florida recorded 19 executions in a single year, a state record. Another execution was scheduled, which would tie the record if both executions went ahead.
ABC News - Florida carried out more than half of the 31 executions in the United States so far that year. The country recorded 47 executions in 2025.
ABC News - Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.
WHERE:
ABC News - Raczkowski responded to a 911 call at a convenience store in Vero Beach, Florida.
ABC News - Reaves was set to receive a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.
WHEN:
ABC News - Reaves was set to receive the injection beginning at 6 p.m.
ABC News - The shooting occurred in 1986; Reaves’ second conviction and death sentence were in 1992.
ABC News - Jesse Guardado was scheduled for execution on November 5.
WHY:
ABC News - DeSantis was in his final term and was set to leave office in January.
ABC News - DeSantis has said his goal is to bring justice to victims’ families who have waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.
ABC News - Reaves’ attorneys argued jurors were not told about his VA disability rating for PTSD.
HOW:
ABC News - Florida uses a three-drug lethal-injection protocol, unlike states such as Tennessee, which use a single-drug injection.
ABC News - Reaves’ attorneys also challenged Florida’s execution method; the state’s lethal-injection protocol had previously survived similar legal challenges.
ABC News - According to court records, Raczkowski responded to a 911 call Reaves acknowledged placing from a payphone outside the store. During their conversation, a gun fell from Reaves’ shorts; the men struggled over it, and Reaves regained control. Investigators said Raczkowski tried to run away before Reaves shot him four times. Raczkowski later died from his wounds.
ABC News - Florida executions use lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
(UPDATED October 21, 2026 05:07 UTC)
Florida is executing people at a faster pace than other states, drawing attention to the nation’s aging death-row population. The state uses a three-drug lethal-injection protocol. Tennessee, by contrast, uses a single-drug injection.
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(UPDATED October 21, 2026 03:12 UTC)
William Reaves would be Florida’s eighth prisoner over age 70 executed that year. His attorneys challenged the state’s execution method, though Florida’s lethal-injection protocol had survived similar legal challenges. DeSantis was in his final term and set to leave office in January.
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(UPDATED October 21, 2026 02:20 UTC)
Florida executed William Reaves, 77, for the 1986 killing of Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski, marking the state’s 18th execution this year under Governor Ron DeSantis. Reaves, an Army veteran rated fully disabled by the VA for post-traumatic stress disorder, had argued jurors were not told about his condition, while more than 100 veterans urged DeSantis to halt the execution; the Florida Supreme Court rejected his final appeals, though a case was still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Jesse Guardado is scheduled for execution on November 5, and carrying it out would bring Florida to 19 executions this year, matching the state record.