WASILLA — A local woman sent to Colorado this summer to face murder charges is reportedly working on a plea agreement.

John Burkley, representing Morgan Hite, 22, of Wasilla, told a Mesa County judge Monday that a plea deal may be in the works, The Associated Press reports.

Hite was arrested in Palmer at the Alaska State Trooper post in early May after coming in to speak with Colorado investigators about what happened to her newborn baby. Hite was charged in Colorado with first-degree murder, an offense there that carries a potential death penalty. Less than a month after her arrest, Governor Palin signed an extradition order – a necessary step when police wish to bring defendants to a different jurisdiction – and Hite was on her way to Colorado.

According to Grand Junction (Colo.) Daily Sentinel reports based on Hite’s case file, police received a report of a dead baby Aug. 29 and went to the home where Hite had been staying with her father and stepmother.

They found the baby had been wrapped in a plastic bag and hidden in a container in a closet. The baby had been dead two months, according to the case file via the Sentinel.

Hite told investigators, according to the Sentinel, that she hid her pregnancy from her family, giving birth at a neighbor’s home.

At the time she gave birth, “The baby was blue with white on the hands and feet ... the eyes were not open and the baby was not breathing or moving,” Hite told investigators, according to the Daily Sentinel.

However, coroner’s reports show the baby was born alive.

As to why she hid the baby’s body, “Morgan stated she couldn’t put the baby in a trash can and just throw it away. Morgan indicated that there is no excuse for what she did but everything started snowballing and she felt like she couldn’t turn back,” according to the Sentinel’s account of the case file.

By the time investigators found the baby, Hite was back in Alaska. Colorado authorities worked to build a case against her before coming to Alaska.

According to court records, the child would not have been Hite’s first. A custody suit filed around the time of Hite’s extradition lists Nathan Pokryfki as the father of a 4-year-old girl over whom he once shared custody with Hite.

Pokryfki sued Hite for full custody. According to court records, the case was not contested and was therefore decided in his favor Sept. 4.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.