The Missouri Supreme Court has set an execution date for Christopher Collings, who stands convicted of the rape and murder of a 9 year old girl nearly two decades ago. Collings will meet his fate through chemical injection at 6pm on December 3, at Bonne Terre’s state prison in Missouri.
Collings was condemned for the brutal slaying of Rowan Ford, a young fourth-grader who disappeared from her home in Stella, Missouri, on November 3, 2007. Her body emerged from a cave after a six-day search, strangled according to police investigations. Rowen once referred to Collings, who used to crash in their basement, as “Uncle Chris.”, reports the Mirror US.
Overnight, Ford went missing, with her lifeless body later found discarded in a sinkhole. The Associated Press reports authorities confirmed strangulation was what ended young Rowen’s life.
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(Image: AP)
After being taken into custody, Collings shockingly admitted to snatching her while she slept, subjecting her to sexual violence, and then taking her life with a “chicken house rope” upon realizing he’d been recognized. He ultimately faced a jury’s guilty verdict for murder.
In 2014, Collings’ attempt to have his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment fell failed. Williams has always maintained his innocence, and St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell has lodged a motion to overturn the sentence, arguing that new evidence indicates another person’s DNA – not Williams’ – was found on the murder weapon.
An evidentiary hearing for Williams is set to commence on August 21. However, several are calling for his execution to be thrown out, in light of his “structural brain abnormalities,” and his own brutal upbringing.
A local paper, the Columbia Missourian, have reported fears he may not have committed the crime. Their report says: “on Nov 9, 2007, Rowan’s stepfather, David Spears, and Collings both confessed to different police departments that they had committed the crimes, according to court records.”
(Image: ABC KODE 12)
They say Collings felt gratitude to Spears and would have taken the fall for the murder, due to him providing housing and a safe space so quickly. There were several discrepancies in the trial, they claim, and while inside Collings appears to be nothing but a “positive presence.”
Collings’ conviction and sentence have been under the microscope by the Missouri Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. According to the Missouri Attorney General’s office, no court has ever pinpointed any legal errors.
(Image: ABC KODE 12)
After the Attorney General submits a motion to set an execution date, Collings’ lawyers will be given time to respond. If the Missouri Supreme Court decides to issue an execution warrant, the execution date will be scheduled between 90 and 120 days from the order.
So far this year, two men have been executed in Missouri – Brian Dorsey on April 9 and David Hosier on June 11. Collings would become the 101th man to have been executed in the state since 1984.
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