October 19, 2026
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — One hundred military veterans are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to stop the execution of decorated Vietnam veteran William Reaves. His execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, October 20, at Florida State Prison in Starke, FL. Reaves, 77, was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Raczkoski. His jury recommended death without hearing critical evidence about his combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and its effect on his actions that night.
In a letter appealing to DeSantis as a fellow veteran, signers from across the military’s branches ask him to consider the service and trauma that Reaves’s jury never fully heard.
“As veterans, we know that service carries obligations in both directions. We ask service members to risk their lives for this country; in return, our country assumes a solemn duty not to abandon them when they come home carrying wounds we cannot see,” the letter states.
Reaves requested a transfer from an assignment in Panama to Vietnam, arriving in November 1969 at age 20. He served as an infantry machine gunner in the Central Highlands and Cambodia, enduring ambushes, sniper fire, and the deaths of fellow soldiers. Within a week of arriving in country, a friend died in his arms. He earned the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Air Medal and received an honorable discharge.
After returning home, Reaves struggled with combat trauma and a severe substance use disorder. He sought help but did not receive adequate treatment. The Department of Veterans Affairs later determined that he was 100% disabled by service-related PTSD. His jury never heard that determination or the expert evidence developed after trial explaining how his trauma affected his behavior during the shooting.
Reaves’s trial attorney had never tried a capital case and was denied co-counsel. Jurors heard an incomplete account of his military service, while the prosecution disparaged his record and challenged the legitimacy of his mental health condition. Even with that limited presentation, two jurors voted for life. In 2015, a federal judge ordered a new sentencing proceeding after finding his representation constitutionally inadequate. An appeals court reversed that relief in 2017.
“A jury was asked to decide whether William Reaves should live or die without hearing the full evidence of his combat trauma and its effect on his actions,” said Maria DeLiberato, Legal and Policy Director for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. “He has accepted responsibility and expressed profound remorse for Deputy Raczkoski’s death for decades. His fellow veterans are asking Governor DeSantis to consider the service and wounds that were never adequately presented to that jury. He still has the power to stop this execution and grant clemency.”
The Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy has also urged the courts to intervene, arguing that both Reaves’ honorable service and the psychological toll of combat deserved meaningful consideration. On October 17, his attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case, challenging Florida’s treatment of mitigating evidence and a clemency process they say denied him meaningful participation.
The veterans’ letter asks DeSantis to exercise mercy before the execution proceeds.
“Mr. Reaves served when his country called, and volunteered to go farther than his country had asked. When he returned wounded by that service, he did not receive the help he needed. Florida should not make that failure final by executing him now.”
FADP opposes all executions and joins the veterans in urging Gov. DeSantis to stop Reaves’s execution and grant clemency. If the execution is carried out, the organization and partners will gather in vigil and protest across the state.
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Legal Sources
Circuit Court (Indian River County): 1986 CF 000729 A
Florida Supreme Court: SC2026-1519
U.S. Supreme Court: 26-5865
Resources
Letter from 100 U.S. Armed Forces Veterans (October 19, 2026)
Case Overview by the Death Penalty Information Center
Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds: Military Service and the Death Penalty by the Death Penalty Information Center
Slate Op-Ed by Reaves’ former attorney, Chance Meyer