A cocaine-fueled cop killer warned his victim not to draw his weapon – then shot him four times in the back anyway.
That was 40 years ago.
And Ron DeSantis just made sure William Reaves finally faces what a jury decided twice he deserved.
The Night Deputy Raczkowski Died
Richard Raczkowski didn't die on a dangerous call.
He died trying to get a coked-up man a cab.
On September 23, 1986, the Indian River County sheriff's deputy responded to a convenience store near Vero Beach where William Reaves – high on cocaine and broke – had called 911 from a payphone because he had no money for a ride.
Raczkowski called dispatch to order the cab.
While he was on the radio, a gun fell out of Reaves' pants.
https://twitter.com/Arkadalo/status/2101096033346281967?s=20
The deputy put his knee on it.
Reaves grabbed it back.
Raczkowski begged for his life and turned to run.
Reaves shot him four times in the back.
Reaves fled to a friend's house, where he confessed – high, panicked, and fully aware of what he had done.
He was arrested three days later at a bus stop.
Two Juries. Forty Years. Same Answer.
Florida courts convicted Reaves of first-degree murder in 1987.
The Florida Supreme Court overturned it on a technicality – a prosecutor who had previously represented Reaves was allowed on the case.
A second jury convicted him again in 1992.
They voted 10-2 for death.
Reaves has been on death row ever since – appealing, filing motions, burning through taxpayer money – while Richard Raczkowski's colleagues put "RR" on their helicopters and pushed to name a stretch of State Road 60 in his honor.
https://twitter.com/death_row0506/status/2100835850187850194?s=20
Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said it plainly: "It's very frustrating as the Sheriff. We want people to know that we're holding people accountable."
"He's exhausted all of his appeals," Flowers added. "Many other cases just like his have resulted in execution, and for some reason, he continues to cost us taxpayer dollars every single day."
DeSantis listened.
He signed Reaves' death warrant on September 18.
William Reaves – now 77 years old – is scheduled to die by lethal injection on October 20, 2026, at Florida State Prison.
DeSantis Is Rewriting History Before He Leaves Office
This is a campaign – and DeSantis is sprinting to finish it before he leaves office in January.
He oversaw 19 executions in 2025 – the most in a single year by any Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, more than doubling the previous record.
Florida has executed 15 people already in 2026 – more than all other states combined.
DeSantis has now overseen 43 executions total, accounting for 31 percent of every execution Florida has carried out since 1976.
"Justice delayed is justice denied," DeSantis said earlier this year. "I felt I owed it to them to make sure this ran very smoothly. If I honestly thought someone was innocent, I would not pull the trigger."
Three more executions are already scheduled before the year ends – Curtis Beasley on September 29, William Lee Thompson on October 13, and now Reaves on October 20.
Beasley bludgeoned a 62-year-old woman with a hammer inside her own home.
Thompson tortured a woman for hours, covering 80 percent of her body in bruises, cuts and burns, before murdering her.
Reaves shot a deputy four times in the back for trying to get him a cab.
None of them are walking out of Florida State Prison.
DeSantis made sure of that.
That's what a governor who actually backs the blue looks like – not speeches, not ribbons, not hashtags. Warrants. One by one. Until the debt is paid.
Sources:
- Summerleigh Stones, "Florida death row: Gov. DeSantis signs 18th death warrant in 2026," FOX 13, September 19, 2026.
- CBS Miami Team, "Gov. DeSantis signs 18th death warrant of the year for Florida man convicted of killing deputy in 1986," CBS News/News Service of Florida, September 18, 2026.
- Associated Press, "Florida sets up a third execution in 2026 as state leads US death penalty surge," January 30, 2026.
- Associated Press, "Florida is ready to execute 2 inmates on the same day, first time in the US in nearly a decade," July 28, 2026.
- GigaFact, "Has DeSantis overseen more executions than any administration in Florida's history?" August 7, 2026.
- Vero News, "County supports naming part of State Road 60 for slain deputy," VeroNews.info.
