Missouri Executes Christopher Collings onDecember 3, 2024

Christopher Collings, Missouri

Updated: Tuesday, December 3, 2024

On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, Christopher Collings was executed by the state of Texas.  He was pronounce dead at 6:10 pm local time inside the execution chamber at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Corrections Center near Bonne Terre, Missouri.  Christopher was 49 years of age.  He was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of nine-year-old Rowan Ford on November 3, 2007, in Wheaton, Missouri.  Christopher spent the last 12 years of his life on death row.

Christopher had a difficult childhood.  He was emotionally neglected during the first few months of his life and was placed in foster care with a family who eventually adopted him.  However, the parent’s traumatic loss of another child eventually led them to divorce.  During his childhood, Christopher’s biological parents made sporadic contact for many years, leading to Christopher often being shuffled between homes.  Christopher was sexually molested when he was six years old and sodomized when he was 15 years of age.  Christopher had a history of drug and alcohol addiction.

Rowan Ford was born in San Diego, California, but eventually moved to Stella, Missouri, where she lived with her mother and stepfather, David Spears. In early 2007, a family friend 32-year-old Christopher Collings lived with the family for several months before again moving to his family farm in Wheaton, Missouri, where he lived in a travel trailer.

On November 2, 2007, Spears, Collings, and another man, Nathan Mahurin were drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana together.  They eventually left Spears’ home, leaving Rowan in the trailer alone.  They bought more alcohol and went to Collings’ trailer to drink and smoke some more.  After about an hour, Mahurin and Spears left with Mahurin taking to the back roads to drive Spears home.  

The following morning, Rowan’s mother arrived home from work and discovered Rowan missing.  She contacted the Sheriff’s department, which spurred a large-scale search for the missing girl.  The search was unsuccessful.  Police and the FBI spoke with Spears and Collings several times about Rowan’s disappearance.  

On November 9, 2007, Rowan’s body was discovered in a cave.  She was nude from the waist down, wearing one sock, and covered in leaves and debris.  An autopsy determined that Rowan had been raped before she was killed by strangulation.  

After the news broke that Rowan’s body had been found, Collings contacted a police officer who was also an old friend, and the two agreed to meet.  Collings claimed that Mahurin and Spears left his trailer around 11:30 pm the night Rowan disappeared.  Collings then left and arrived at the Spears’ home before Spears.  He entered the house and found Rowan sleeping on the floor of her bedroom.  Collings confessed to picking her up and taking her back to his place where he raped her.  Rowan woke up during the assault and began struggling.  Collings claimed he intended to return Rowan home, however, she recognized him “freaked out” and strangled her.  

Collings decided to put Rowan in a sinkhole in a cave.  He then returned home and burned her pants, underwear, and the cord used to strangle her.  He also burned his clothes and the mattress on which the attack occurred.  Collings’ friend convince him to come back to the sheriff’s department with him and tell other law enforcement officers what happened.  He denied that anyone else was involved in the crime, however, Spears confessed to rejoining Collings at his trailer, joining in on Rowan’s assault, and helping to dispose of the body.

Collings faced a jury trial and was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Rowan.  Spears agreed to a plea deal in which he pled guilty to child endangerment and attempting to cover up the crime.  He received a sentence of 11 years in prison and was released in 2015.

Pray for peace for the family of Rowan Ford.  Pray for strength for the family of Christopher Collings.