Collings Appeals Death Sentence and Conviction in Murder of 9-Year-Old Rowan Ford
By Lisa Olliges
Fox 14 News
STELLA, MO - Today marked the second Missouri Supreme court appeal for Christopher Collings. He was earlier convicted and sentenced to death for the 2007 rape and murder of nine-year-old Rowan Ford.
An attorney from the public defenders office in Columbia offered arguments today before Missouri Supreme court justices asking them to prevent Collings’ execution and overturn his conviction.
Collings’ attorney said his conviction was based on two legal fictions that went unchallenged by his previous counsel. One, that he was sober when committing the crime and the second that his brain was able to form accurate memories to offer a confession considering his history of substance abuse including the night of Ford’s murder.
Because it is a death penalty case Collings had a previous direct appeal to the state’s high court. That appeal was denied.
The new appeal comes just one day before the tenth anniversary of the discovery of Rowan Ford's body on November 9th, 2007.
Her body had been thrown into a hole in the ground in McDonald county known as Fox Cave.
The appeal and the anniversary bring up raw emotions for everyone in Rowan’s hometown of Stella, Missouri. Some there say the crime put the town on the map for all the wrong reasons and they long for justice.
Becca Hance said, "It hits you hard especially when it’s one of your own. And this magnitude of tragedy, it's something you never forget."
Hance walked Rowan home from the Stella Baptist church Wednesday nights. It’s what she called a safe place for Rowan who arrived before everyone else and sat on the steps. Ten years later she said the hurt doesn't stop.
Hance explained, "Until justice has been one hundred percent served, I don’t think it will ever go away." Becca and others aren’t happy with the second supreme court appeal for convicted killer Chris Collings.
She said, “No amount of punishment will every justify what happened to Rowan and he shouldn’t get the option to change his sentencing."
Nine year old Rowan was taken from her Stella home the night of November 2nd, 2007. Collings confessed to raping and strangling her and then dumping her body in McDonald county.
Newton county Sheriff Chris Jennings said, “In all my years of law enforcement, that’s probably the most horrendous crime, not just because it was a child that was murdered, but how she was murdered. So, yes, I’ve never forgotten about it." Jennings was then Chief deputy on the case and keeps Rowan’s photo id in his card case.
He said, "I’ve carried it , like I said every day since she first disappeared."
Ken Copeland was sheriff at the time of the case which he still finds upsetting. He said Collings got a fair trial with two top notch public defenders. He says it’s a shame there are so many appeals when Rowan didn’t have a chance to appeal for her life.
Tracey Welch shares his sentiment, “She had no chance. The things those men or that man did to her were unthinkable."
Welch was principal at Tri-way elementary, Rowans school and says Collings took the life of an innocent child.
Welch elaborated, "Who had nothing but goodness and joy in her heart. And he stole that from her violently and brutally with no thought of what she was going through, none, none at all. And he killed her because ‘Oh my God! She might have known who I was.’ I have no sympathy for that."
The community is not just upset about Collings and the appeal . But that Rowan’s stepfather, David Spears who was another suspect, is now out of jail having plead guilty to a lesser charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
Becca Hance lamented, “He’s living life freely…Chris has an appeal and Rowan, her life was cut short at nine and that’s just not, just not fair."
Attorneys for Collings also dispute his confession because Spears also confessed. Public defender's say attorneys during trial should have called attention to differences in those confessions and the fact that k9 officers pointed to a vehicle Spears borrowed from his mother.
Rowan's mother said in ten years nothing’s changed. She said Rowan hasn't been vindicated. She hopes the high court denies Collings appeal a second time.
Rowan was killed after Collings,Spears and another man had a night of drinking and smoking marijuana. Intoxication and substance abuse are part of the basis of Collings appeal.
Audio of today's supreme court arguments can be heard online. Click here to listen.
http://www.fox14tv.com/story/3679883...old-rowan-ford
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