Florida Prepares to Execute Vietnam Veteran for 1986 Killing

Florida is preparing to execute William Reaves, a 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran convicted of killing Indian River County Deputy Richard Raczkowski in 1986. The lethal injection is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Florida State Prison near Starke, as attorneys seek intervention from the U.S.

Supreme Court and veterans appeal to Gov. Ron DeSantis for clemency.

The execution would mark Florida's 18th this year, extending the state's lead in capital punishment nationwide. According to figures reported by The Associated Press and NBC News, Florida has carried out more than half of the 31 executions in the United States so far in 2026.

Florida executed 19 prisoners in 2025, setting a state record. Another execution is scheduled for Nov. 5 for Jesse Guardado, 64, who was convicted of robbing and killing a woman in 2004, according to NBC News.

Reaves' defense centers partly on his military service and the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. His attorneys argued that jurors who recommended the death penalty were not informed that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had rated him 100% disabled because of PTSD linked to his service in Vietnam.

More than 100 military veterans appealed to DeSantis in a letter sent Monday, Oct. 19, urging him to halt the execution. They argued that the government has an enduring responsibility to service members who return from war with psychological injuries.

In their letter, the veterans wrote, "assumes a solemn duty not to abandon (service members) when they come home carrying wounds we cannot see."

The letter described Reaves' wartime experiences, including his service as an Army infantry machine gunner and the death of a fellow soldier in his arms during his first week in Vietnam. The veterans also wrote, "Although his body returned home intact, part of him remained at war," and argued that he continued to feel under attack after returning home.

Florida officials have opposed delaying the execution, arguing in court that carrying out the sentence would fulfill a longstanding obligation to Raczkowski's family. State attorneys described granting another stay after decades of appeals as "a perverse view of justice and fairness to allow Reaves a stay of his 34-year-old sentence."

Raczkowski, 29, was responding to a 911 call from a payphone outside a convenience store in Vero Beach around 3 a.m. on Sept. 23, 1986. According to court records, Reaves acknowledged placing the call, and a firearm fell from his clothing while the two men were talking.

Prosecutors said the deputy tried to secure the weapon, but Reaves regained control of it. Raczkowski attempted to retreat, and Reaves fired seven shots, striking the deputy four times. Raczkowski died from his injuries.

After the shooting, Reaves fled and was arrested in Georgia two days later. Court records state that he admitted firing all the rounds in his .38-caliber pistol and said he had been under the influence of cocaine. He also told investigators that he did not want to return to prison.

A jury convicted Reaves of premeditated first-degree murder and recommended the death penalty. The Florida Supreme Court later overturned his initial conviction because of a conflict of interest involving the prosecutor, ordering a new trial. Reaves was convicted and sentenced to death again in 1992.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected his latest state appeals the week before the scheduled execution, including challenges to the state's lethal injection procedure. The protocol uses three drugs: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug intended to stop the heart, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

Reaves' attorneys also challenged the execution method, while his final appeals remained pending before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. The case has drawn additional attention following an execution attempt in Tennessee last month in which death row prisoner Christa Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital and was taken to a hospital, according to NBC News.

Raczkowski, known to relatives and friends as Raz, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Valor by the International Police Association. A section of State Road 60 in Vero Beach bears his name as the Richard Raczkowski Memorial Highway.