Florida executes 77-year-old man in state’s 18th execution of year
Vietnam veteran William Reaves executed by lethal injection despite letter from fellow veterans urging halt
TL;DR
- Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year with the death of William Reaves, 77.
- Reaves was convicted of the 1986 shooting death of Indian River county deputy Richard Raczkowski.
- He was executed by lethal injection, a three-drug protocol that Florida has used and defended.
- Reaves was the eighth Florida prisoner over 70 put to death this year, with the state outpacing others in executions.
- His final appeals were rejected by the US Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court.
- Defense attorneys argued Reaves, a Vietnam veteran with a 100% disability rating for PTSD, should have had this information presented to the jury.
- More than 100 veterans had urged Governor Ron DeSantis to halt the execution.