Christopher Leroy Collings was born on February 4, 1975, in Missouri, United States. He grew up in a troubled household and later developed a reputation for heavy drinking and instability in his personal relationships. By 2007, Collings was separated from his wife and had three children who lived in Arkansas with their mother. Missouri. He worked as a factory employee and lived in Barry County at the time of his arrest.

Collings was a family friend of David Spears, the stepfather of Rowan Ford. During the summer and fall of 2007, Collings lived with the Ford family, staying in their basement. Rowan affectionately called him “Uncle Chris.” He eventually moved out to a trailer on his family’s farm in Wheaton, Missouri, shortly before the murder.

On November 3, 2007, nine-year-old Rowan Ford was reported missing from her home in Stella, Missouri. After six days of searching, her body was discovered in a cave, covered with leaves and debris. Autopsy results showed that she had been raped and strangled.

Police arrested two men in connection with her murder: David Wesley Spears, Rowan's stepfather, and Christopher Leroy Collings, a family friend. Both men confessed to their involvement. Collings admitted to abducting Rowan, confining her in his trailer, and then assaulting her. After she saw his face, he decided to kill her to prevent her from being a witness. He used a piece of rope to strangle her. Spears also confessed to helping Collings dispose of Rowan's body.

Following their arrests, both men faced serious charges, including first-degree murder and forcible rape. The prosecution sought the death penalty for both Collings and Spears. Collings eventually stood trial, where his confession and forensic evidence were presented. On March 20, 2012, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. His defense argued for life imprisonment, citing his troubled past and mental health issues, but the jury decided otherwise.

In a plea deal, Spears later pled guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to 11 years in prison for endangering a child's welfare. He revealed details about his and Collings's roles in Rowan's murder, confirming Collings was the main perpetrator.

Collings appealed his death sentence multiple times, but all appeals were rejected by different courts, including the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. On April 5, 2024, a motion was filed to schedule Collings's execution date. By August 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court set the date for December 3, 2024, after Collings exhausted all avenues for appeal.

On December 3, 2024, at age 49, Collings was executed by lethal injection at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri. His final appeals had been denied the day before, and Governor Parson refused clemency.

Following the execution, Rowan’s sister, Ariane Macks, publicly stated that her youngest sibling had been “a ray of sunshine” and that the family had lived in pain since her murder. She affirmed that Collings deserved the death penalty, though she did not consider lethal injection harsh enough.