Police affidavit reveals chilling details about baby's death in Colorado
Originally published Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 8:16 a.m.
Updated Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 10:18 a.m.
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Stumble It!PALMER -- A police affidavit is revealing some chilling details about the death of a newborn baby in Colorado.
The affidavit says 22-year-old Morgan Hite of Wasilla secretly delivered a baby boy in a neighbor's bathtub, then wrapped him in a garbage bag, put him in a plastic tote and put the baby in a bedroom closet at her family's home in Grand Junction, Colo.
The affidavit says the body remained hidden for two months before Hite's father and stepmother discovered it wrapped in a green towel.
Hite has been charged in Colorado with first-degree murder and child abuse. She was arrested this week in Alaska.
Hite made an initial appearance Wednesday in a Palmer court. She refused to be extradited to Colorado immediately, saying she wished to speak with an attorney before deciding whether to fight being sent to a state in which she could face the death penalty, Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said.
According to the affidavit, Hite told investigators she arrived in Grand Junction on Feb. 24 to visit family, and gave birth to the boy the next day. When she got there, she told her father and stepmother, Chris and Stacy Hite, that she had been pregnant but delivered the child in Alaska earlier in the month and had already given it up for adoption.
But she still looked about six months pregnant, her parents told investigators.
Hite told police she had tried to get an abortion in Anchorage but a women's health clinic would not perform the procedure because she was 15 1/2 weeks pregnant, the affidavit says. Alaska law limits abortions to the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
On Feb. 25, Hite and her 4-year-old daughter were alone at her father's Colorado home when a maid arrived, and they went across the street to a neighbor's house. The neighbor, Kara Safriet, was out with Hite's stepmother at the time, the affidavit says.
Hite told investigators while there, with her daughter asleep in a bedroom, she went into labor, closed herself in a bathroom and delivered the child alone. She said the newborn was not breathing or moving. However, a medical examiner who conducted an autopsy later concluded the infant was born alive.
When Safriet and Hite's stepmother returned, Hite's stepmother knocked on the bathroom door. Hite responded that she was bleeding badly and had severe cramps and wanted to take a bath before going home, the affidavit says.
Stacy Hite went home and retrieved a change of clothes and a plastic bag for her stepdaughter. Hite told investigators she cleaned the bathroom, put on the fresh clothes, and, unknown to the other women and wrapped the child in the bag.
She then returned to her father's home and concealed the newborn, the affidavit says.
"Morgan stated she couldn't put the baby in a trash can and just throw it away," the affidavit says. "Morgan indicated that there is no excuse for what she did but everything started snowballing and she felt like she couldn't turn back."
Later the same day, she went shopping in preparation for a family trip and in the days following went snowboarding in Vail and attended a college hockey tournament in Colorado Springs, the affidavit says.
For more than a month after the death, Hite stayed in the room where she had hidden the infant's body, prosecutors said. She returned to Alaska on April 3, and the child's corpse was finally discovered by Hite's parents April 29, a week before her arrest in Mat-Su.
Hite told investigators that the baby was stillborn with its eyes shut and blue skin, but that she made no effort to start it breathing. Nor did she call 911 or contact authorities to alert them of the child's birth, Grand Junction police said.
Under Colorado law, first-degree murder carries a penalty of either life in prison or the death penalty, said Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger. However, he said prosecutors likely won't seek the death penalty and he might be willing to negotiate a plea to lesser charges.
He said if Hite had just dropped the infant off at a hospital instead, she would not be facing charges now.
Community Discussion
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Disgustingly unbelievable! This so very sad!
The more I hear of this, the more I am disgusted. I hope she gets the maximum.
There are way too many options available for those who cannot or do not want their child.
So sad and sick. While that others are patiently waiting to adopt. I agree with tracy. Give her the Max...
Thank God Colorado has the death penalty.
I agree with tracylv68. she deserves that max. sentence that should could possibly receive !!! She does not deserve to even be called a mother, she is a disgrace !!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't offenders supposed to be sent to the place of the said crimes?? Or at least go by their state law? By this story it clearly states intent. The girl lied to her parents about being pregnant; gave birth to the baby boy *a medical examiner said was born ALIVE*; wrapped the baby in a plastic bag; and later went shopping, snowboarding and to a hockey tournament. Plus making a trip back to Alaska. That is just sick. The girl was cold hearted to sleep in the same room as the deceased infant. I hope they show no mercy to this monster.
Death Penalty!
as a mother of 2 I cant believe that someone could do that. That is just horrible. How can you sleep in the same room without feeling something, how can you just go about your life like nothing happened.. That is what makes me sick about some ppl. Disgrace to the mothers in the world who would DIE for their kids, I hope they give her the death penalty!!!!!
We should be more in tune with each other. The next time you ask someone "how are you?", pause and look in their eyes first. Then ask, and actually listen. Perhaps, if we actually showed we cared more often, took notice of the people we see, and we're willing to actually listen enough to see if a person is in pain or troubled, and needed some guidance, then many of these tragedies could be averted.
Her failure is our failure. Pointing fingers, and placing blame only increases the isolation around us, which is what causes most of our problems to begin with.
Why can we comment on everything but the guy convicted of molesting the baby in the above (home page) article?
Is it because it is not politically correct to comment on the fact that sexual abuse and incest in the villages are rampant as has been reported in the past and so many are already aware of?
We hear/read about the problem, or are aware of it first-hand, yet are not allowed to discuss it here. Wrong.
Wow, I am so saddened by this, and the responses. What this young woman needs is help, love and support. She obviously had lots of turmail going on inside of her. What a nation of HYPOCRITES we are to want to "throw everything at this girl" ecept what she needs. I am sure she was given opportunity after opportunity to MURDER her child before giving birth yet she CHOSE LIFE for those 9 months. Sadly at a time of weakness, perhaps feeling all alone, condemned by friends and family she made a wrong choice that she will live with for the rest of her life. Thousands of young girls make the same CHOICE everyday and we call it FREEDOM not MURDER. Where is our compassion? We have vigils to stop the death of rapists and murderers but want someone who could have ABORTED her child to "get waht she deserves". We all deserve much more than we will ever see in this life. She is obviously a menace to society and should get the death penalty? Come on, who are you trying to kid. Lets work on those who truly are menaces to our society. My prayers are with this young lady, and I hope she is able to find all the help she needs.
What the hell was she thinking?!
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