A Missouri death row inmate made an apology before his execution for the 2007 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl.
Christopher Collings, 49, was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. after receiving the lethal injection for killing Rowan Ford and dumping her body in a sinkhole.
“Right or wrong I accept this situation for what it is. To anyone that I have hurt in this life I am sorry. I hope that you are able to get closure and move on.”
“I hope to see you in heaven one day.”
Collings confessed to raping Rowan after drinking and smoking marijuana on Nov. 3, 2007.
He had been living with the victim’s family for several months and the little girl referred to him as “Uncle Chris.”
Collings said that he strangled Rowan with a rope after she saw his face as he “freaked out” she would tell her parents.
He then dumped her body in a sinkhole and burned the rope, clothes, and a mattress after the crime.
“I wanted him dead, I still do,” Rowan’s sister Ariane Macks said before the execution.
“But they could have done something better than lethal injection because he’s going out easy.”
