Missouri Executes Man For 2007 Assault & Killing

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man has been executed for sexually assaulting and killing a 9-year-old girl, then dumping her body in a sinkhole outside of town. Christopher Collings 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 prior to Rowan’s death in November 2007. He sometimes helped Rowan with her homework. She knew him as “Uncle Chris.” Collings was executed with an injection of pentobarbital Tuesday evening at the state prison in Bonne Terre. It was the 23rd execution in the U.S. this year and the fourth in Missouri. Only Alabama with six and Texas with five have performed more executions in 2024.