Florida carries out another execution and is one away from matching the 2025 record
Translated with AI from the original article in Spanish. Leer la noticia original en español
On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the state of Florida carried out its eighteenth execution of the year by administering a lethal injection to 77-year-old William Reaves. Reaves had spent decades on death row after being convicted for the 1986 murder of sheriff's deputy Richard Raczkowski.
With this case, Florida is now just one execution away from reaching the state record of 19 executions in a single year, a historic figure that was recently set in 2025. This acceleration reflects the aggressive use of capital punishment pushed during the terms of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
The crime
According to court records, Raczkowski responded to a 911 call at a Vero Beach convenience store in September 1986. Reaves later admitted to having made the call from a payphone outside the store.
As Raczkowski and Reaves spoke, a handgun fell from Reaves' shorts, according to authorities. Both struggled for the weapon, and Reaves eventually regained control of it. Investigators indicated that the deputy was attempting to flee when Reaves shot him four times. The deputy later died from his injuries.
Reaves was found guilty and sentenced to death approximately one year after the shooting. However, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction due to a conflict of interest with the prosecutor and ordered a new trial.
Reaves was found guilty again and sentenced to death in 1992, and subsequent appeals were unsuccessful.
On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Reaves' final appeal without comment.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court also rejected Reaves' appeals to spare his life.
Reaves was the eighth Florida inmate over the age of 70 executed this year, highlighting the aging death row population in the country, as Florida continues to far outpace the rest of the nation in the total number of executions.