Vietnam veteran, 77, faces execution by lethal injection as Florida nears grim death penalty record
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Florida is preparing to execute a 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran on Tuesday despite a last-minute appeal for clemency from more than 100 fellow veterans, as Gov. Ron DeSantis moves closer to matching the state’s record number of executions.
William Reaves, who was convicted of murdering an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy in 1986, is scheduled to receive a three-drug lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke.
His execution would be Florida’s 18th this year and the eighth involving a prisoner over the age of 70.
Florida carried out a record 19 executions in 2025, a figure it could match if Reaves and another prisoner scheduled to die in November are both executed.
DeSantis, whose term ends in January, has defended the pace of executions, arguing that victims’ families deserve justice after decades of waiting.
Veterans urge DeSantis to intervene
Reaves’ attorneys have argued that jurors who recommended his death sentence were never told the Department of Veterans Affairs had classified him as 100 percent disabled because of post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his military service in Vietnam.
More than 100 veterans wrote to DeSantis on Monday urging him to halt the execution.
His lawyers also challenged Florida’s lethal injection procedure, which uses a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected his appeals last week, having previously upheld the state’s execution protocol against similar challenges.
A final appeal remained pending before the US Supreme Court.
Deputy shot four times after struggle
Reaves was convicted of killing Deputy Richard Raczkowski after the officer responded to a 911 call at a Vero Beach convenience store in September 1986.
According to court records, Reaves had made the emergency call from a nearby payphone.
As the two men spoke, a gun fell from Reaves’ shorts, prompting a struggle over the weapon. Reaves regained control and shot Raczkowski four times as the deputy attempted to flee, investigators said.
The officer later died from his injuries.
Reaves was initially convicted and sentenced to death in 1987, but the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction because of a conflict of interest involving the prosecutor.
He was convicted again in 1992 and received a second death sentence.
Florida leads nation in executions
Florida has carried out more than half of the 31 executions recorded nationwide so far this year, continuing a surge that saw it lead the country in 2025.
In July, the state executed two prisoners on the same day, becoming the first state in nearly a decade to do so.
The next execution is scheduled for November 5, when Jesse Guardado, 64, is due to receive a lethal injection.
Guardado was convicted of robbing and murdering a woman in 2004 to obtain money for drugs.
If both executions proceed, Florida will equal last year’s record of 19 executions, underscoring the scale of the state’s renewed use of capital punishment under DeSantis.
