Woman faces murder charge in death of Super Bowl reporter found in New Orleans
A Louisiana woman faces a charge of second-degree murder in the killing of a sports reporter found in his hotel in New Orleans during Super Bowl week, the Kenner Police Department said.
New evidence directly linking Danette Colbert to Adan Manzano's death more than one month after she was arrested allowed detectives to obtain an arrest warrant for the upgraded charge, police said.
"We don't want Ms. Colbert to see the light of day again," Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said at a news conference Tuesday, and added the arrest warrant was obtained Monday and she was booked the following day.
Colbert who faces multiple charges collaborated with an accomplice to enact her alleged robbery and drugging scheme. Surveillance video showed Colbert arriving with Manzano at his hotel room - who was on assignment for KGKC Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports - around 5 a.m. Feb. 5, the day of his death.
Kenner Police said the footage showed Colbert leaving without him. Investigators found Manzano's credit card and cell phone at Colbert's residence along with Xanax, which police said she used to allegedly drug Manzano. Authorities said Colbert later used Manzano's credit card to make a purchase at a New Orleans gas station and several stores in the area. A Louisiana jury found Colbert guilty last year of theft and fraud charges in an unrelated case.
The sports reporter's death was caused by the combined toxic effects of Alprazolam and alcohol with positional asphyxia, the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office said in preliminary findings.
Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich said at the news conference "not an insignificant amount of Xanax," was found in Manzano's system. He said his office classified the manner of death as "Undetermined."
In 2022, Colbert was twice arrested in Las Vegas on felony charges of grand larceny and administering a drug to aid in a felony crime, court records show. She was accused of drugging both men in their hotel rooms and stealing from them, but the charges were dismissed because the victims did not want to testify in court, Colbert's attorney for those cases, Daniel Lippmann, told The Associated Press.
Detectives identified her accomplice as Rickey White on Tuesday and said they were able to obtain an arrest warrant for multiple charges including robbery. White is "kind of a transient," the police chief said, with his last known address in Gretna, Louisiana.
White was apprehended at a La Quinta Inn & Suites in Hollywood, Florida Friday, police said, and he's being held in the Broward County Jail, awaiting extradition.
Colbert is being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, police said.
