Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially signed a death warrant for William Reaves Jr., a 77-year-old man convicted of the tragic 1986 murder of Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Corporal Richard R. Raczkoski. The warrant, signed on September 18, brings a definitive timeline to a case that has deeply affected the local Vero Beach community and Treasure Coast law enforcement for nearly four decades.
The execution is scheduled to take place at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 20, at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers is expected to be in attendance. According to Florida law, while lethal injection remains the state’s primary method of execution, Reaves retains the option to choose the electric chair. Recently, Reaves filed an emergency motion to pause his execution, arguing that his defense attorney is currently representing another death row inmate scheduled for execution just one week prior. State records confirm that this emergency motion was firmly denied, and Reaves remains held at the Union Correctional Institution.
The death warrant was signed just days before the 40th anniversary of Corporal Raczkoski’s death, marking a solemn milestone for Indian River County residents and honoring the ultimate sacrifice made by local law enforcement.
The fatal encounter unfolded in the early morning hours of September 23, 1986. Corporal Raczkoski, affectionately known as “Raz” to his loved ones, was responding to a 911 hang-up call at a Zippy Mart convenience store located on State Road 60 near 82nd Avenue. It was there that the 29-year-old deputy encountered Reaves, a Vietnam veteran and ex-convict with a prior record of robbery, grand theft, and drug charges.
During the interaction, a firearm fell from Reaves’s shorts, leading to a desperate physical struggle over the weapon. Reaves ultimately overpowered the young deputy, holding him at gunpoint. Court records detail that Reaves told the deputy, “It’s either me or you.” Despite Corporal Raczkoski begging for his life and pleading with the suspect not to shoot, Reaves fired seven rounds from a .38-caliber handgun as the deputy attempted to run. Four of those bullets struck Raczkoski in the back.
The deputy was rushed to Indian River Memorial Hospital—now known as Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital—where doctors tragically pronounced him dead. He left behind a grieving family, including a son who had not yet been born.
Following the cold-blooded shooting, Reaves fled on a bus to Albany, Georgia, but was apprehended by authorities just two days later. He later confessed to investigators that he shot the deputy simply to avoid a mandatory three-year prison sentence for unlawfully possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Reaves was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and formally sentenced to death in 1992.
Corporal Raczkoski was the first deputy in Indian River County to be killed in the line of duty. His legacy and sacrifice have been memorialized throughout the local community in several lasting ways:
- He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Valor by the International Police Association.
- In 2011, a high-traffic stretch of State Road 60 between Interstate 95 and 43rd Avenue was proudly dedicated as the “Richard Raczkoski Memorial Highway.”
- A vintage 1986 Ford Crown Victoria was painstakingly restored and painted to replicate his original patrol cruiser, serving as a rolling tribute to his service.
Before joining the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office in 1983, Raczkoski served with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, where he was highly commended for successfully tracking and capturing an escaped prisoner. Remembered as an avid outdoorsman who loved scuba diving, boating, fishing, and working on auto mechanics, Raczkoski’s memory continues to serve as a cornerstone of law enforcement history in Indian River County.
