Missouri
Christopher Collings’ final words before Missouri execution
Christopher Leroy Collings was executed in Missouri on Tuesday for the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl.
Collings, 49, died by lethal injection at 6:10 p.m. CST at the Potosi Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.
“Right or wrong I accept this situation for what it is,” Collings said in a written final statement. “To anyone that I have hurt in this life I am sorry. I hope that you are able to get closure and move on.”
Collings is the 23rd inmate to be executed in the U.S. this year and the fourth in the state of Missouri.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant a stay of execution on Monday.
“Mr. Collings has received every protection afforded by the Missouri and United States Constitutions, and Mr. Collings’ conviction and sentence remain for his horrendous and callous crime,” Governor Michael Parson said in a statement on Monday. “The State of Missouri will carry out Mr. Collings’ sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice.”
Missouri Department of Corrections via AP
In 2007, Collings kidnapped Rowan Ford, the 9-year-old stepdaughter of one of his friends, according to court records. He was found guilty of raping the child and strangling her with chicken wire.
Collings has said that he did not intend to kill Ford, but he panicked when she recognized him. He had lived with her family for several months that year.
Ford’s body was found in a cave about a week after her disappearance. An autopsy ruled that she died due to strangulation.
Ford’s stepfather, David Wesley Spears, was also charged with rape and murder related to the incident. He had confessed to sexually assaulting and killing Ford, but Collings denied his involvement.
Prosecutors withdrew the murder charge in 2012.
Spears accepted a plea deal, agreeing to plead guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and hindrance of prosecution. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and released in 2015.
“I am so proud of the girl that she was turning out to be,” Rowan’s older sister, Ariane Macks, Ford’s sister, told USA TODAY. “A part of me died when my sister died. I did lose my ray of sunshine.”
Macks said Collings deserved to be sentenced to death for killing Ford.
“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.”
In Colling’s clemency petition, his attorneys said he suffered from a brain abnormality that caused “functional deficits in awareness, judgment and deliberation, comportment, appropriate social inhibition, and emotional regulation” and he experienced abuse as a child. Parson denied the petition.
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Former Missouri Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon followed in his ancestor’s footsteps, 250 years to the day.
On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon was the first person to publicly read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.
Jay Nixon, along with other Missouri officials from local, state and national offices, participated in a semiquincentennial celebration at the Historical Greene County Courthouse on July 8, 2026.
“As we commemorate 250 years of American independence, may we remember not only the courage of those who signed the declaration, but also our responsibility to preserve the freedoms they declare,” said Connie Yen, director of the Greene County Archives and Records Center.
While the reading of the Declaration of Independence was the main event, patriotic music from the Salvation Army Band, Springfield Sound, the Patriotic Chorale — as well as the national anthem sung by former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft and former judge and representative Max Bacon — rang throughout the courthouse’s rotunda, which was packed with people. The music itself, Ashcroft said, was a metaphor for the nation.
“There is something charming about America that doesn’t require that we be uniform. There’s a difference between unity and uniformity. As a matter of fact, you can’t have harmony if you only have one note. You have to sing different notes for things to be harmonic and it’s much more beautiful,” he said. “Maybe America is America not because of uniformity or everybody being in unison, but America may be America because we have disparity, but we’re in harmony. We believe in unity, not uniformity.”
Before reading the Declaration of Independence, Nixon shared part of a speech he gave at Fulton’s Westminster College in August 2025, where he encouraged people to “resist apathy with action” through involvement with civic and faith organizations, and by voting. Like others, he emphasized diversity as the strength of America.
“(We’re) a nation of immigrants. Many of our ancestors fled poverty, injustice and tyranny to build something better. We are the great-great-great-grandchildren of slaves, and those who enslaved them; the first families who inhabited these lands, and those who drove them from it,” Nixon said. “A nation of scrappy strivers stitched together by our ideals, marked by original sins, but redeemed by the courage and sacrifice that saved us from fascism and unleashed freedom and prosperity — the envy of the world. That is the true story we all need to tell, the promise we made to each other that we work every day to keep.”
The reading was followed by an ice cream social, co-hosted by the Greene County Democratic and Republican women’s clubs.
Missouri
UPDATE: Suspect wanted in Kansas captured near Columbia; Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft plays key role | 93.9 The Eagle
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says one of its planes played a key role in Tuesday morning’s capture on I-70 near Columbia of a Kansas suspect wanted for child endangerment.
Missouri state troopers say they were on patrol near a rest area on eastbound I-70 in Cooper County, when they located a Dodge Durango wanted for an alleged incident in Topeka. Troopers say the suspect drove off after seeing troopers and that the Patrol plane was used to avoid a pursuit.
Troopers say they were able to get in position after the plane’s pilot located the vehicle and that the Patrol deployed stop sticks and safely deflated the suspect’s tires.
The Highway Patrol says the suspect was captured without incident and that the two-year-old child, who was unharmed, has been reunited with their mother.
The Missouri Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from July 7 drawing
02-31-35-36-63, Mega Ball: 12
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from July 7 drawing
Midday: 1-3-9
Midday Wild: 5
Evening: 8-5-4
Evening Wild: 0
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from July 7 drawing
Midday: 8-1-4-4
Midday Wild: 0
Evening: 2-6-7-0
Evening Wild: 1
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from July 7 drawing
Early Bird: 09
Morning: 08
Matinee: 15
Prime Time: 01
Night Owl: 10
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Show Me Cash numbers from July 7 drawing
12-16-17-28-31
Check Show Me Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Missouri Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Missouri Lottery’s regional offices, by appointment only.
To claim by mail, complete a Missouri Lottery winner claim form, sign your winning ticket, and include a copy of your government-issued photo ID along with a completed IRS Form W-9. Ensure your name, address, telephone number and signature are on the back of your ticket. Claims should be mailed to:
Ticket Redemption
Missouri Lottery
P.O. Box 7777
Jefferson City, MO 65102-7777
For in-person claims, visit the Missouri Lottery Headquarters in Jefferson City or one of the regional offices in Kansas City, Springfield or St. Louis. Be sure to call ahead to verify hours and check if an appointment is required.
For additional instructions or to download the claim form, visit the Missouri Lottery prize claim page.
When are the Missouri Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
- Pick 4: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
- Cash4Life: 8 p.m. daily.
- Cash Pop: 8 a.m. (Early Bird), 11 a.m. (Late Morning), 3 p.m. (Matinee), 7 p.m. (Prime Time) and 11 p.m. (Night Owl) daily.
- Show Me Cash: 8:59 p.m. daily.
- Lotto: 8:59 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
- Powerball Double Play: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Missouri editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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