Thoughts on Rowan Ford and the execution of her killer

Chris Collings is dead.

At 6:10 p.m. he was given a lethal injection.

In the last sentence of his last statement, Collings said, "I hope to see you in heaven one day."

I don't pretend to know how that works, but I'm betting the odds are against it.

The news coverage today was centered around this man who raped and murdered a 9-year-old girl and then threw her body into a sinkhole. I read about how he helped his future victim, Rowan Ford, with her homework, how he was the father of two and how he greeted people with a hug.

I learned of his tragic childhood, separated from his siblings, sexually abused.

It was the same kind of pull at the heartstrings reporting you see every time someone is nearing execution.

What you don't see is much about the victim.

So Chris Collings had a horrible childhood. At least he survived his.

You read about Chris Collings, but you didn't read about the little girl who rode her purple bicycle on the streets of Stella, who arrived at Triway Elementary every day and was loved by her teachers. She spent much of her time at her school and at her church.

Rowan Ford had a passion for learning that could have taken her far from the poverty and abuse she experienced.

All she needed was a chance.

It's easy to concentrate on the killers when they are executed, easy and lazy.

We must never forget the victims.

Chris Collings' last statement: I hope to see you in heaven one day

 

Chris Collings, 49, was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 6:10 p.m. this evening at the Diagnostic and Correctional Center at Bonne Terre.

The execution took place 17 years, four weeks and three days after he raped and murdered 9-year-old Rowan Ford, a fourth grader at Triway Elementary in Stella, and tossed her body into a sinkhole.

The execution took place one day after both Gov. Mike Parson and the U. S. Supreme Court rejected his attorneys' pleas for a delay.

Collings' legal team released the following statement:

“Chris was taken too early from this Earth. We share Chris’s desire 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. What occurred today, though, was an act of vengeance, but it will not define Chris, nor will it be how we remember him.”

Commentary- Parson would enrich his legacy by showing mercy to Chris Collings (written before 6 p.m.)

By Laura Schopp

For the Missouri Independent

On Tuesday evening, the state of Missouri is scheduled to once again require state workers to kill a human being.

Christopher Collings would be the 101st person Missouri officials have executed since 1989. He was sentenced to death for the murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford in Stella, a town in southwest Missouri. We mourn Rowan’s death and grieve her loss along with all who loved her.

At the same time, Missourians should not condone the use of state violence to end Collings’ life, especially in light of irregularities which plagued the investigation and trial, Collings’ structural brain abnormalities and his brutal upbringing.

Gov. Mike Parson should intervene in an act of mercy to halt the execution and commute Collings’ sentence to life in prison.

On Nov. 9, 2007, Rowan’s stepfather David Spears and Collings both confessed to different police departments that they raped and murdered the child. Friends and acquaintances portrayed Collings as a follower and someone who would do anything for Spears — who had helped Collings get a job and provided him a place to live for several months. That includes, perhaps, even taking the fall for murder.

Collings went on trial first. His confession was the primary evidence used to convict him. No physical evidence directly implicated him in the crimes. After the state secured Collings’ conviction, prosecutors dropped the first-degree murder charge against Spears.

Laura Schopp is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist, professor emerita and former chair of the University of Missouri Department of Health Psychology.

According to the Kansas City Star, Spears pled guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and hindering a felony prosecution, received an 11-year sentence and was freed in 2016.

Spears’ confession aligns closely with available evidence, and Spears himself led officials to his stepdaughter’s body in a sinkhole. A trained police cadaver dog positively signaled that the child had been in the cargo hold of a car Spears borrowed that night, consistent with his confession.

Spears had previously repeatedly lied to authorities to deflect his guilt, including lying about the whereabouts of his stepdaughter that night when his wife was at work. FBI investigators confiscated Spears’s computer hard drives and found two years’ worth of pornographic materials, some featuring violence against teenage girls and even children.

During Collings’ trial, prosecutors declined to disclose that then-Wheaton Police Chief Clinton Clark, the star witness who secured Collings’ confession, had four criminal convictions and himself had been incarcerated for several months. Clark’s criminal record would have undermined his credibility, especially given the lack of physical evidence implicating Collings.

Jurors in Collings’ trial never heard this evidence regarding the Police Chief’s own criminal record.

They also never heard evidence documenting Collings’ brain abnormalities. It wasn’t until years later that a neurologist reviewed brain MRI images, EEG and other diagnostic testing.

The neurologist attested to anatomic abnormalities in the right temporal lobe of Collings’ brain, consistent with difficulties in memory and emotional regulation, and likely the source of abnormal brain electrical activity.

The neurologist further noted that Collings’ brain showed “deficits in circuits that are responsible for functions such as awareness, judgment and deliberation, comportment, appropriate social inhibition, and emotional regulation,” which in turn “made the effects of the
alcohol he consumed that day of the crime that much more deleterious to his capacity to exercise judgment and deliberate.”

At least three of the trial jurors later said this information would have made a difference and they would have voted for life without parole instead of death if they had known it.

Collings’ own upbringing was a nightmare of pain, violence and neglect. He was placed as a baby in foster care and was frequently physically abused and repeatedly raped as a child by caregivers and trusted others. Despite this, Collings’s years of sobriety while incarcerated are evidence that he needed help and was amenable to a different life path. He had no prior criminal record and no major prison violations.







He’s been a positive presence in prison, involved in restorative justice programs, has consistently held a prison job, and was chosen to be part of a program that trains dogs for adoption. Collings has had and continues to have a positive impact on the lives of many people, including his two daughters. With a life without parole sentence, he could continue to give back to his family and society. But a death sentence necessarily will remove this opportunity from these lives and replace it with trauma.

Taken together, Missourians should be alarmed about imposing a death sentence in light of procedural irregularities, Collings’ brain abnormalities and his brutal childhood abuse.

Humanity and simple mercy demand that Missourians deserve better. Gov. Parson would enrich his legacy by exercising such grace.

Laura Schopp is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist, professor emerita and former chair of the University of Missouri Department of Health Psychology.

Columbia woman sentenced to seven years for running over Jasper police officer

Judge Dean Dankelson sentenced Raven Cheyenne Gomez, 29, Columbia, to seven years in prison Monday during a hearing in Jasper County Circuit Court.

Gomez, who initially was charged with first degree assault for attacking a Jasper police officer and running over her, had the charges reduced to third degree assault, also a felony, after reaching a plea agreement with the Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office.

Information from the probable cause statement can be found at the link below.

The Turner Report: Sentencing set for Columbia woman who ran over Jasper police officer

State taxpayers paying Rowan Ford's stepfather $40,288 a year to work in public defender's office

At one point in the investigation into the murder of 9-year-old Triway Elementary fourth grader Rowan Ford in November 2007, two men confessed to their involvement in the girl's rape and murder.

One of those men, Chris Collings, 49, was executed earlier this evening in Bonne Terre.

The other man, Rowan Ford's stepfather, David Spears, after serving time on reduce charges of felony child endangerment and hindering prosecution, has been receiving taxpayer money for the past eight years working for the Missouri State Public Defender's office, according to a report today from KSNF/KODE.

The report said Spears was on probation when he was initially hired by the husband of his attorney.

KSN tracked him down but was unable to get Spears to go on the record.

We reached out to David Spears at the Public Defender’s Office in West Plains today to ask if he had a comment about Chris Collings’ execution and he said, “Ma’am, you called me at work. I have no comment. Please don’t call my place of work again.”

According to the Missouri Blue Book for 2023-2024, Spears receives an annual salary of $40,288.

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Anti-abortion lawmakers, activists call on Missouri court to rule against Planned Parenthood

By Anna Spoerre

Missouri Independent

On the eve of a Wednesday hearing seeking to strike down most Missouri abortion restrictions, GOP lawmakers and anti-abortion activists assembled outside five Planned Parenthood clinics around the state to call on the courts to leave abortion regulations in place.

(Photo- State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, protests outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, ahead of a hearing in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood seeking to overturn the state’s TRAP laws- Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

At the same time, Republican lawmakers have begun filing some of their first pieces of legislation aimed at weakening or overturning Amendment 3, which was narrowly approved by voters last month and enshrines the right to reproductive health care in the state constitution.

The constitutional amendment, which received 51.6% of the nearly 3 million votes cast, goes into effect Thursday. It prohibits the legislature from regulating abortion prior to the point of fetal viability — generally seen as the point at which a fetus can likely survive outside the womb without extraordinary measures.

Already, at least 11 lawmaker-proposed amendments have been prefiled seeking to reverse Amendment 3 through another vote of the people.

One such bill, filed by Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Arnold, would ask voters to ban gender-affirming surgeries for minors and all abortions with exceptions for medical emergencies and rape.

“Missouri families deserve clarity and compassion in our laws when it comes to protecting

women and safeguarding innocent life like our children from danger,” Coleman said in a statement Tuesday. “These constitutional amendments align with the beliefs of the majority of Missourians when it comes to supporting the dignity and value of all life.”

State Rep. Justin Sparks, a Wildwood Republican, is proposing his own version of a repeal amendment. He said he was inspired to take action by Amendment 3’s close margin of victory.

Sparks’ proposed constitutional amendment would define a “person” as “every human being with a unique DNA code regardless of age, including every in utero human child at every stage of biological development from the moment of conception until birth.”

State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, filed a proposed amendment similar to Coleman’s, but one that also included abortion exceptions for fetal anomalies. It would limit abortions in the cases of rape or incest to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy and only if the victim filed a police report.

Such requirements have been widely-criticized in other states, with victim advocates calling such reporting requirements harmful to survivors.

But on Tuesday, standing outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City with other anti-abortion activists, Brattin said his immediate focus was appealing to the courts to uphold the state’s current “targeted regulation of abortion providers” laws, which previously made it all but impossible for doctors to provide abortions in Missouri.

The laws, enacted over the last several years by the legislature, include a mandatory 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and a surgical abortion, mandatory pelvic exams for medication abortions and requirements that providers report all abortions to the state.



“That’s going to be first and foremost, making sure that if they’re operating, they’re operating at the highest level of standard of care,” Brattin said.

Less than 24 hours after Amendment 3 was approved by voters, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers announced a lawsuit seeking to strike down several of these TRAP laws.

The first hearing in the case is set to take place Wednesday afternoon in Jackson County.

The Missouri Secretary of State’s office filed a motion requesting the proceedings be moved to Cole County. Earlier this year, a Cole County judge struck Amendment 3 from the ballot, a decision that was quickly overridden by the Missouri Court of Appeals.

Planned Parenthood leadership has said they hope a quick decision from the judge will allow them to start performing abortions at three health centers across the state — Columbia, the Central West End in St. Louis and the Midtown neighborhood of Kansas City — as soon as the new amendment goes into effect.

“Abortion is safe and a very common healthcare procedure,” Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates the St. Louis clinics, said in a statement Tuesday. “We know that Missourians across the political spectrum support access to this life-saving care, but anti-abortion extremists are again resorting to false, tired, and previously litigated scare tactics, trying to subvert the will of the people and keep abortion banned.”

A 2018 study by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that abortion complications are rare, and complications during childbirth remain more common.

Outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis’ Central West End, Brian Westbrook, executive director of Coalition Life, called for the TRAP laws to remain in place “to make sure that women do not go into a place like this and leave in an ambulance headed to the hospital.”



“We stand here today with real, clear evidence that Planned Parenthood is not safe for women and requires serious oversight and inspections, not immunity,” he said.

Westbrook also referenced a 2018 health inspection report that determined equipment in the Columbia clinic included tubing that contained “black mold and bodily fluid.” Planned Parenthood officials later said the equipment had been replaced and the issue resolved.

The Columbia health center ended the procedure in fall 2018 when it could no longer meet a state requirement that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 15 minutes from the clinic and the clinic’s license expired. After that, until the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, only one Planned Parenthood clinic in Missouri, located in St. Louis, continued to perform abortions.

The St. Louis clinic temporarily lost its licensure as well until May 2020, when then-Missouri Administrative Hearing Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi ruled that the state health department had to re-issue the license.

“​​Planned Parenthood has demonstrated that it provides safe and legal abortion care,” Dandamudi’s ruling concluded. “In over 4,000 abortions provided since 2018, the Department has only identified two causes to deny its license.”

Westbrook ended Tuesday’s press conference saying he is hopeful the Trump administration will enforce the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that bans the mailing of obscene material, including medications used for abortion.

He also said he supports Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s efforts to hold Planned Parenthood accountable.

The Missouri Attorney General’s office recently posed a court challenge to the Planned Parenthood suit. The latest lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Cole County, questions Planned Parenthood Great Plains’ ability to sue, claiming a 2010 settlement agreement prevents them from doing so.

Bailey, in a recent official opinion from his office, argued that while Missouri statutes prohibiting abortion prior to fetal viability will no longer be enforceable in their entirety, the state can still enforce other laws on the books related to abortion.



“In a contest where the ‘yes’ side was able in effect to rewrite the ballot summary language, received tens of millions of dollars in funding from out of state, and outspent the ‘no’ side 6 to 0,” Bailey wrote, “This tight margin suggests the result may be very different if a future constitutional amendment is put up for a vote.”

Missouri State Board of Education votes to lower standards for teachers

(From the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)

Today the Missouri State Board of Education voted to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to change the requirements for some teacher certification areas. The current rule requires a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher in the specific content (i.e. subject) area for which the teacher is seeking certification. 

This proposed amendment to the rule would change the required content GPA from 3.0 to 2.5. Teachers earn content certification to teach most school subjects at the secondary level, as well as some specialty courses, like the arts. Teachers seeking certification in elementary, early childhood, and/or special education will not be affected by this change.

A Missouri researcher evaluated 1,174 teacher candidates from science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and found no statistical difference between the first-time certification exam pass rates of candidates with a content GPA between 2.75 and 3.0 and those with a content GPA of 3.0 and above. 

This suggests that the content knowledge of teacher candidates with a higher content GPA does not significantly differ from that of candidates earning a lower content GPA. There is also no data in this research to suggest a correlation between a teacher’s future success in the classroom and a 0.5 difference in GPA.

“As part of a comprehensive effort to address teacher recruitment and retention challenges in Missouri, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has been focused on removing unnecessary barriers to the teaching profession,” said Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger. “This research demonstrates we have the potential to expand our pool of future teachers, without concern that student learning and teacher success will be negatively affected.”

 

Proposed changes to administrative rules are open for public comment. That feedback can be emailed to educatorquality@dese.mo.gov or mailed to: DESE, Attn: Paul Katnik, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Educator Quality, P.O. Box 480, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0480. Comments must be received within 30 days after publication of the notice in the Missouri Register, which is expected on January 15. The order of rulemaking will likely be on the State Board of Education’s agenda for a final vote in March 2025.

The State Board of Education instituted the current GPA requirement for content teacher certifications in 2017. Since establishing the rule, the state has seen a substantial drop in the number of individuals completing the program for these certification types, disproportionately affecting teacher candidates in STEM subjects, where the need for teachers is particularly high. None of Missouri’s eight border states have any type of content GPA requirement for teachers.

U. S. Supreme Court denies stay of execution for Rowan Ford's killer

 

Earlier today, Gov. Mike Parson denied clemency for convicted killer Chris Collings, who is scheduled to be executed 6 p.m. Tuesday for the November 2007 rape and murder of 9-year-old Rowan Ford, a Triway Elementary fourth grader.

Now, the U. S. Supreme Court has weighed in, also denying a stay of execution.

Appeals court rejects new trial for Joplin man who murdered his daughter

A Joplin man who shot and killed his daughter January 9, 2022 after she threw a bottle at him during an argument will not receive a new trial.

The Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals today rejected Todd Alan Mayes' claim that a police officer who testified against him should not have been allowed to show how Mayes used the gun. 

During his trial, Mayes claimed he was acting self-defense.

Mayes showed how he held the gun during a taped interview with the police. His lawyer objected when the police officer was allowed to demonstrate since the jury had already seen the video. The judge allowed the demonstration.

Mayes was initially charged with first degree murder, but the jury eventually convicted him on second degree murder and armed criminal action charges.

Sentencing date set for Absolutely Fabulous Boutique owner for trafficking in counterfeit goods

A 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, December 18 sentencing hearing is scheduled in U. S. District Court in Springfield for Monett businesswoman Tara Kingrey, 31, who pleaded guilty in February to trafficking in counterfeit goods.

According to the indictment, Kingrey acknowledged she sold counterfeit Louis Vuitton purses, handbags, wallets, necklaces and other products that were actually manufactured in Hong Kong and China.

Under the plea agreement, the government has agreed not to file any more charges for trafficking in counterfeit goods that have been sold through Kingrey's business.

Parson: State will carry out the execution of Chris Collings

(From Gov. Mike Parson)

Today, Governor Mike Parson confirmed that the State of Missouri will carry out the sentence of Chis Collings on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, as ordered by the Supreme Court of Missouri.

"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 Parson said. "The State of Missouri will carry out Mr. Collings’ sentence according to the Court's order and deliver justice."

Collings abducted nine-year-old Rowan Ford, raped her, and strangled her with chicken wire before throwing her into a sinkhole. Collings confessed to this abhorrent offense multiple times to numerous law enforcement officers, and evidence matching his statements was found at his residence. 

There is not and never has been any doubt about Collings’ involvement or the heinousness of his crimes. Nor has Collings’ conviction or sentence ever been reversed on appeal. 

Collings’ case has been reviewed in the state trial court, Missouri Supreme Court, federal district court, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and United States Supreme Court.

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Paula Baker to remain as Freeman CEO

Paula Baker's retirement will have to wait a bit longer.

Freeman Health employees were told today that Tom Keller, who had been scheduled to take over as CEO December 1, would not be taking over.

Baker, who has been Freeman CEO for nearly 14 years, will continue until a new CEO can be found.

Freeman officials did not say why Keller was out of the picture. 

Baker announced her impending retirement January 25 in an e-mail to staff:

Dear Freeman Family,

Because I know word travels quickly, I wanted you to hear this news directly from me.

Today marks a significant milestone for me as I announce my intent to retire at the end of a one-year notice period.

After 13 years as the President and CEO of Freeman Health System, the time has come for me to step into a new chapter of life. As all of you parents will understand, my son will be finishing high school before I can turn around and I want quality time with him. Reflecting on this remarkable journey, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the unwavering support, the countless memories, and the remarkable accomplishments we have achieved together as we fulfill our most sacred mission.

During my tenure as CEO, we have witnessed unparalleled growth within Freeman Health System. Through the collective efforts of our exceptional team, we have expanded our services, bolstered our workforce, and witnessed substantial increases in revenue. These achievements stand as a testament to the unwavering commitment and passion that each and every one of you has brought to the table. Together, we have transformed challenges into opportunities and obstacles into triumphs.

As I look back on our journey, I am filled with pride for the impact we have made in the healthcare industry and the lives we have touched within our region. The growth and success we have achieved together have been nothing short of extraordinary, and I am immensely proud of all of you.

As I step into retirement next year, I carry with me the cherished memories of the moments we have shared, the challenges we have overcome, and the victories we have celebrated. I am confident that the spirit of excellence and dedication that defines Freeman Health System will continue to thrive in the capable hands of those who will lead it into the future.

Thank you for the privilege of serving as your CEO, and for the countless memories that I will forever hold dear. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to lead such an exceptional team. Your dedication, hard work and consistent support have been the driving force behind our accomplishments. I look forward to witnessing the continued success and growth of Freeman Health System, and I am grateful to have been a part of its remarkable journey.

Please know that I will be at the helm through my year long notice period. We still have much to accomplish in the upcoming months.

The Board of Directors of Freeman Health System will begin the search for the new President/CEO. We will definitely keep you updated as progress is made in this endeavor.

Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

Warmest regards,

Paula F. Baker
President & CEO
Freeman Health System

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