Christopher Collings executed in Missouri for 9-year-old Rowan Ford's rape, murder

Missouri executed death row inmate Christopher Leroy Collings on Tuesday, 17 years after he confessed to raping and killing his friend's 9-year-old stepdaughter.

Collings, 49, was executed by lethal injection as the mother of his victim, 9-year-old Rowan Ford, watched him die, along with other witnesses in the death chamber at the Potosi Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri.

Collings, himself a father of two now-grown daughters, was convicted of killing Rowan on Nov. 3, 2007, in the tiny southwestern Missouri village of Stella. He confessed to police that he kidnapped a sleeping Rowan from her bedroom and took her to his trailer, where he raped and strangled her, according to court records.

Collings became the 23rd inmate executed in the U.S. this year and the fourth in Missouri, one of the most prolific death penalty states in the nation.

Here's what you need to know about Collings' execution.

What were Christopher Collings' last words?

In his last words, which he wrote out ahead of his execution, Collings said that "right or wrong, I accept this situation for what it is."

He also apologized.

"To anyone that I have hurt in this life I am sorry," he wrote. "I hope that you are able to get closure and move on."

He continued, saying that "regardless which side of this situation that you are on, you are in my prayers and I hope to see you in heaven one day."

It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday night whether he spoke those words aloud in the death chamber, but death row inmates are typically given time to deliver their last words out loud.

Collings' attorneys, at least one of whom witnessed the execution, said in a statement afterward that "Chris was taken too early from this Earth."

"We share Chris' desire that that his death will provide a measure of closure for the victim's family and that the people hurt by him will be able to carry on," the team said. "What occurred today, though, was an act of vengeance, but will not define Chris, nor will it be how we remember him."

What was Christopher Collings convicted of?

On the night of Nov. 2, 2007, Collings was drinking heavily with two friends. One of the friends, David Spears, had a 9-year-old stepdaughter named Rowan Ford, whose mother was working her overnight shift at Walmart.

At some point that night, the men left Rowan home alone and started hanging out at Collings’ trailer. As the third friend drove Spears home on back roads to avoid getting pulled over, Collings later told police that he raced to Spears’ home and kidnapped a sleeping Rowan, put her in his truck and took her to his trailer, according to court records.

Once there, he raped her, police say he told them. After that, he said he intended to take her home but "freaked out" when she recognized him in the moonlight. That's when he strangled her, court records say.

Collings said he then dumped her body in a cave. She was found on Nov. 9, about a week after her disappearance triggered an Amber Alert and intensive search.

Spears also confessed to police, saying he raped Rowan and strangled her, while Collings denied that Spears was involved, the Missouri attorney general's office said in court documents. Spears ultimately was convicted of child endangerment and hindering prosecution, and got out of prison in 2015. USA TODAY could not find a phone number for Spears.

Collings lost his last chances at a reprieve on Monday, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant a stay of execution and Republican Gov. Michael Parson denied him clemency, saying in a statement that Missouri would deliver justice "for his horrendous and callous crime."

Who was Rowan Ford?

The news of Rowan's disappearance − reported when her mother returned home from work and couldn't find the girl − was shocking for her tiny community in Stella, which has a population of less than 200 people. Much of the town joined in the search for Rowan, known as a bubbly little girl who was always on her purple bicycle, worked hard in school, and had her bedroom painted Barbie Pink.

"I am so proud of the girl that she was turning out to be," Rowan's older sister, Ariane Macks, told USA TODAY this week. "A part of me died when my sister died. I did lose my ray of sunshine. ... She was very shy, but when she opened up, it's like the whole room lit up. Rowan, she was something very special."

The morning before Rowan's funeral, teachers and students at Rowan's school planted a pink dogwood tree in her honor and released purple balloons with notes from her classmates attached. A concrete angel was placed in the spot, as well as a marker reading April 11, 1998, for the day she was born and Nov. 9, 2007, as the day her body was found.

Macks, now 35 and living in Lineville, Alabama, said Collings deserved to be put to death for her sister's killing but that lethal injection falls short.

"I wanted him dead. I still do ... but they could have done something better than lethal injection because he's going out easy," she said. "I cannot even imagine the pain when (Rowan) was strangled. Chris being so tall and so big compared to my little sister, she didn't have a fighting chance."

Who was Christopher Collings?

Collings was a problem child who never formed an emotional attachment to anyone because he experienced severe neglect from his birth parents and several traumas after he was placed in foster care, including at least two rapes, his attorneys argued during his trial.

Collings and his five older siblings ended up in the system − and separated from each other − because their parents "were involved in a lot of crime, involved in a lot of substance abuse," his attorney at the time, Charles Moreland, told jurors, adding that "the evidence will also show that there are seeds of redemption within Christopher Collings."

Collings eventually became a father to two daughters but struggled with an alcohol and marijuana addiction, court records say. Macks recalled Collings' drinking problem, saying he became a different person while drunk.

In its statement following the execution, Collings' legal team described him as standing at 6 feet, 8 inches tall, "but (he) was truly a gentle giant."

"His booming voice followed by a wide grin would greet you whenever he entered the room," they said. "Chris dismissed our offers for a handshake and would always pull you in for a warm hug."

They added that Collings "loved and cherished his children more than life itself."

"He constantly talked about his daughters and his regrets for not being a part of their lives when they were growing up," they said. "He worked for years to develop a relationship with his daughters and those efforts paid off in recent years. Chris spent hours talking with his daughters, and those moments provided him with hope and satisfaction knowing they had grown into successful young women."

In his arguments for Collings' life to be spared, Weis raised questions about his client's confession, saying it wasn't recorded and was given to then-Wheaton Police Chief Clinton Clark, who had four convictions for absence of office without leave and should never been allowed on the force. He emphasized Spears' own confession to the crime, saying it indicated even further doubt that Collings' alleged confession is the truth, as well as pointed out the extreme disparity in the two men's sentences.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christopher Collings executed in Missouri in 9-year-old's rape, murder