Florida puts 77-year-old man to death for deputy’s murder as state closes in on execution record

A 77-year-old Florida man was executed on Tuesday for killing a sheriff’s deputy more than 40 years ago, marking the Sunshine State’s 18th execution of the year as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis continues an accelerated pace of executions.

William Reaves was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke following a three-drug injection. He was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the September 1986 shooting death of Indian River County sheriff’s deputy Richard Raczkoski.

Reaves said he did not have any last words.

About 30 seconds after the injection began, Reaves took several big breaths and then stopped moving. A few minutes later, the team warden shook Reaves’ shoulders and shouted his name, but the man gave no response. A medic checked for a heartbeat or other signs of life, and Reaves was pronounced dead about a minute later.

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Raczkoski’s brother, Marc, told reporters after witnessing the execution that his brother finally received justice, while Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said that he viewed the execution as closure rather than justice.

“Would we all be so lucky to be 77 years old and to die so peacefully,” Flowers said at a press conference. “That’s not justice in any way, in my opinion.”

On Sept. 23, 1986, Raczkoski responded to a 911 call that Reaves had made from a payphone at a Vero Beach convenience store, according to court records.

After the deputy arrived at the scene and the two men began talking, a gun fell out of Reaves’ pants, officials said. The two men struggled over the weapon before Reaves eventually regained control of it.

Raczkoski was attempting to run away when Reaves shot him four times, according to investigators. He died from his wounds later that day.

Reaves was convicted and sentenced to death about a year after the shooting. The Florida Supreme Court later overturned the conviction due to a conflict of interest with the prosecutor and ordered a new trial. After the second trial, Reaves was again convicted and sentenced to death, and subsequent appeals were unsuccessful.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Reaves’ request for a stay of execution and petition asking the court to review his case without comment on Tuesday.

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The state Supreme Court also rejected Reaves’ appeals last week that sought to halt the execution.

His attorneys challenged Florida’s three-drug lethal injection protocol. Executions in the state are carried out through the injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections. The court has previously upheld the protocol against similar challenges.

Florida’s method is different from the single-drug injection used in states like Tennessee, where death row inmate Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital and was rushed to the hospital last month. Pike has since been released from the hospital and returned to prison.

Reaves’ attorneys also argued that jurors who recommended the death penalty were never made aware that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had rated the Army veteran as 100% disabled because of post-traumatic stress disorder linked to his service in the Vietnam War.

More than 100 military veterans appealed to DeSantis in a letter on Monday to halt the execution, pointing to those factors.

Reaves was the eighth Florida prisoner over age 70 put to death this year.

Florida has accelerated its pace of executions amid a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis since 2025. The governor oversaw a state record 19 executions last year, more than any other Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, accounting for approximately 40% of the U.S. total of 47 executions for 2025.

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Florida would tie last year’s record if Jesse Guardado, 64, is put to death as scheduled on Nov. 5 for robbing and killing a woman to buy drugs in 2004.

Florida has carried out more than half of the 32 total executions in the country so far this year, including Reaves.

In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first time a state has done so in nearly a decade.

DeSantis has said he wants justice for victims’ families who have often waited decades for death sentences to be carried out.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.