William Reaves is executed in Florida for shooting a sheriff's deputy in 1986

Sheriff Eric Flowers says the outcome brought closure, not justice

Florida executed 77-year-old Vietnam veteran William Reaves on Tuesday evening by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford, about 45 miles southwest of Jacksonville, for the 1986 fatal shooting of Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Raczkoski. The Florida Department of Corrections said Reaves was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. EDT. The execution was Florida’s 18th of 2026 and the 32nd death sentence carried out nationwide that year.

Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Jordan Kirkland told reporters following the execution, “The execution took place without incident.” Reaves had been scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

According to court documents, after a reported night of drinking alcohol and smoking and snorting cocaine, Reaves left his girlfriend’s house and went to a convenience store. Early Sept. 23, 1986, shortly after 3 a.m., he called 911 from a payphone at a Zippy Mart outside Vero Beach to arrange a ride home. Raczkoski, 29, responded, and while the two were talking, a .38-caliber pistol fell from the waistband of Reaves’ shorts.

Court documents said Raczkoski put his knee on the gun, but Reaves, a convicted felon who could face additional prison time for having the weapon, pushed the deputy off it and grabbed it. Raczkoski turned and ran, and Reaves fired the entire seven-round clip, hitting him four times. Raczkoski later died on the operating table at the hospital.

Reaves fled to the home of a friend and said Raczkoski had begged him not to shoot. Erman Eugene Hinton testified during the trial that Reaves recounted the confrontation and said, “One of us got to go. One of us got to go, me or you.”

Reaves was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the conviction in 1991 after the state prosecutor represented Reaves as a public defender in an earlier grand larceny case. He was convicted of murder during a second trial held in 1992 and again sentenced to death after a 10-2 jury recommendation. The Florida Supreme Court rejected Reaves’ final appeals the prior week, and the U.S. Supreme Court did the same shortly before the scheduled 6 p.m. Tuesday execution.

Reaves had acknowledged responsibility for the shooting. His lawyers argued that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from his time fighting in the Vietnam War. During the penalty phase of his retrial, a defense psychologist testified that Reaves perceived the encounter with Raczkoski as life-threatening.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said in a statement following the execution that “Both men swore an oath to protect and defend.” The group referred to Raczkoski as a sheriff’s deputy and Reaves as someone who had volunteered to fight in Vietnam. It said: “Corporal Raczkoski deserved to go home to his family after his shift ended that night. William Reaves deserved treatment, compassion and understanding for his war wounds. Both things are true.”

At a press conference that followed the execution, Raczkoski’s brother, Marc Raczkoski, offered one sentence: “I would just like to say that Richard finally has justice and this is put to rest.”

Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers, who witnessed the execution, thanked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier “for finally getting this done.” “Forty years we’ve waited,” he said. Holding up a sheriff’s deputy badge, Flowers said, “The last thing this murderer saw was our uniform, was this badge,” and presented it to Marc Raczkoski.

Reaves’ final meal was crackers and juice, and he gave no final statement. Flowers told reporters, whom he anticipated would ask his reaction to the execution, that he was “pretty mad.” Flowers said Reaves chose not to give a final statement and chose crackers and juice on the idea that he was taking communion. He asked whether Reaves could say he was sorry to the family. Flowers then said: “Watching that, it was awfully humane for somebody who took somebody’s life so recklessly. Pretty disappointed.”

Flowers also rejected Marc Raczkoski’s description of the outcome as justice. “Mark says justice; closure’s my word,” he said. Flowers said the outcome had brought closure because Reaves was gone, but “I don’t think there’s any justice in what took place.” He added: “Would we all be so lucky to be 77 years old and die so peacefully. That’s not justice in my opinion.”

Florida is scheduled to execute Jesse Guardado, 64, on Nov. 5, for the 2004 murder of Jackie Malone. If carried out, it would be the state’s 19th execution of the year, tying its modern-day record set last year.