Christopher Collings Scheduled for Execution in Missouri

Christopher Collings, 49, is set to be executed on December 3, 2024, for the 2007 murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford, who was sexually assaulted and strangled in Stella, Missouri. Collings will receive a lethal injection of pentobarbital at 6 p.m. CST, marking the 23rd execution in the U.S. this year and the fourth in Missouri. His appeals have been denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, and Governor Mike Parson has also refused clemency, having never granted it in previous cases. Collings, who was a friend of Rowan's stepfather, confessed to the crime after consuming alcohol and marijuana prior to the attack. Concerns over the fairness of his conviction have been raised, particularly regarding the lesser charges faced by Rowan's stepfather, David Spears, who also confessed. Collings had cited troubled childhood experiences and brain abnormalities in his clemency petition, but these arguments were not sufficient to alter his execution outcome.