The state of Missouri has scheduled a fourth execution for this year.
The Missouri Supreme Court issued a warrant of execution Tuesday for Christopher L. Collings. The 49-year-old is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Dec. 3.
He was convicted in 2012 of killing Rowan Ford, a 9-year-old girl who was found in a cave in McDonald County, The Springfield News-Leader reported.
Appeals at the state and federal level were struck down.
Collings’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is the fourth person scheduled to be executed in Missouri this year.
Brian Dorsey was executed on April 9 at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, in Bonne Terre, about an hour south of St. Louis. The state prison houses the execution chamber.
David Hosier was executed June 11.
Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24. He claims he is innocent and that DNA found on the murder weapon was not a match. An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 21. The St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office supports his case and in January, filed a motion to vacate his conviction.
Ten people remain on death row in Missouri, which in recent years has increased its pace of executions. Last year, the state executed four people.
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