Missouri Executes Man for Murder of Girl, 9

A Missouri man was executed Tuesday for sexually assaulting and killing a 9-year-old girl, then dumping her body in a sinkhole outside a small, rural town. Christopher Collings, 49, was a friend of the family of the victim, fourth-grader Rowan Ford—so much so that he lived with the family for several months before the girl's death in November 2007. He sometimes helped Rowan with her homework. She knew him as "Uncle Chris."

• Collings was put to death with an injection of a single dose of pentobarbital and pronounced dead at 6:10pm CST at the state prison in Bonne Terre, the AP reports. The execution was the 23rd in the US this year and the fourth in Missouri. Only Alabama with six and Texas with five have performed more executions in 2024.

• Collings spoke with a spiritual adviser who was at his side as the process began. Shortly thereafter, he appeared to breathe heavily and swallow hard. After a few seconds, all movement stopped. He was officially declared dead nine minutes after the injection.
• Collings' fate was sealed Monday when the US Supreme Court turned aside an appeal and Republican Gov. Mike Parson denied clemency. "Right or wrong I accept this situation for what it is," Collings said in a written final statement. "To anyone that I have hurt in this life I am sorry. I hope that you are able to get closure and move on." He added, "I hope to see you in heaven one day."
• Rowan was described by teachers at Collings' trial as a hard-working and happy student, a lover of Barbie who had her room painted pink. Collings told authorities that he drank heavily and smoked marijuana with Rowan's stepfather, David Spears, and another man in the hours before the attack on Rowan, according to court records. Collings said he picked up the still-sleeping child from her bed and took her to the camper where he lived, where he assaulted her.

• Collings planned to take Rowan back home, leading her outside the camper facing away from him so that she couldn't identify him, he said in his confession. But when moonlight lit up the darkness, Rowan was able to see Collings, he told police. He said he "freaked out," grabbed a rope from a nearby pickup truck, and strangled her.
• Court documents and the clemency petition said Spears also implicated himself in the crimes. A transcript of Spears' statement to police, cited in the clemency petition, said Spears told police that Collings handed him a cord and Spears killed Rowan. But Spears was allowed to plead to lesser charges. It wasn't clear why, the AP reports. He served more than seven years in prison before being released in 2015.

(More execution stories.)