A Missouri death row inmate who raped and killed a 9-year-old girl has been given an execution date.
The Missouri Supreme Court issued an order of execution for Christopher L. Collings on Tuesday.
Collings is set to die by chemical injection on December 3 at 6:00 p.m.
In May 2012, he was convicted in the death of Rowan Ford, a fourth-grade student who went missing from her home in Stella, Missouri, on November 3, 2007.
Collings lived with the family for several months during the summer and fall of 2007. He slept in the basement and Rowen refered to him as "Uncle Chris."
She disappeared one night and her body was found in a sinkhole six days later.
Police say the child's cause of death was strangulation, according to the Associated Press.
Collings was later arrested and charged with her murder. He admitted to taking her out of the house while she was sleeping and raping her.
He killed her by strangling her with "chicken house rope" when she recognized him and "freaked out."
A jury later found him guilty of murder.
Collings' appeal to lessen his penalty to life in prison was denied in 2014.
Two men have been executed in Missouri this year: Brian Dorsey on April 9 and David Hosier on June 11. A third execution is scheduled for September 24 for Marcellus Williams.
