Inmate executed for 2007 murder of Missouri 9-year-old

BONNE TERRE, Mo. – The sexual assault and murder of Rowan Ford in 2007 rocked the southwestern town of Stella, Missouri. On Tuesday, the man convicted of the crimes against the 9-year-old girl was executed.

Christopher Collings died by lethal injection at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre on Tuesday. Collings was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. He was 49.

Collings confessed to kidnapping Ford, taking her to his camper, assaulting her, and then strangling her with a rope. The child’s stepfather, David Spears, had been partying with Collings the night of the attack. Court documents and the clemency petition said Spears also implicated himself in the crimes.

A transcript of Spears’ statement to police said Spears told officers that Collings handed him a cord and it was Spears who killed Rowan. Documents from the court also revealed that Spears guided authorities to the sinkhole where the child's body lay. Spears was allowed to plead to lesser charges for unknown reasons and was released from prison in 2015.

In a statement from Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, the organization said, in part, "We continue to hold Rowan Ford's family in our hearts, recognizing their immeasurable loss. However, we maintain that executing Chris Collings does not heal this tragedy."

Law enforcement officials close to the case feel otherwise.

"I was hoping the state would come while I was still in office. I put in a request to attend the execution,” Newton County Sheriff Chris Jennings said. “I felt like it was the right thing to do for Rowan. I mean, personally, I believe it's many years too late. This was the most horrendous case I have worked on my entire career.”

Collings' execution marks Missouri’s fourth execution of the year, placing the state among the highest in the U.S. for capital punishment cases in 2024.