UPDATE
Mar 19, 2025 12:00 AM CDT
The woman arrested in connection with the death of a TV reporter who was found in his New Orleans hotel room while he was in the city to cover the Super Bowl has now been charged with second-degree murder. Danette Colbert, 48, had previously been charged with robbing victim Adan Manzano. A suspected accomplice has also been arrested and charged with theft and fraud, the AP reports. Preliminary autopsy results were not able to conclude whether Manzano died accidentally or was murdered; it was determined he was facedown on a pillow and unable to breathe after ingesting Xanax and alcohol. Authorities say his medical records show no prescription for Xanax, but police say the drug was found in Colbert's home, and she had previously been charged with drugging and robbing other people.
Feb 11, 2025 10:10 AM CST
A woman arrested in connection with the death of a TV sports reporter in New Orleans was accused of drugging another man before stealing his life savings. Telemundo reporter Adan Manzano might still be alive today if a judge had imposed a harsher sentence on Danette Colbert, victim David Butler tells NBC News. He says he had a drink with Colbert at a New Orleans bar in November 2021 before feeling disoriented. He now believes he was drugged. He says he accepted Colbert's offer to help him home "and that's the last thing I remember that night." He says he awoke to find his phone and wallet missing, along with more than $80,000 he held in a cryptocurrency account. There'd also been thousands of dollars in charges to his credit cards.
Colbert, 48, dubbed the "Bourbon Street Hustler," was convicted of computer fraud, theft, and illegal transmission of monetary funds in October. The following month, Butler argued Colbert should be put in jail. Instead, a judge delivered a suspended sentence that meant Colbert would be on probation for five years. She was also ordered to pay Butler $50,000 in restitution, though he says he's received none of it. "Had the court acted decisively by incarcerating Ms. Colbert or enforcing stricter conditions for her release, it is possible Mr. Manzano would still be alive today," says Butler, one of multiple people who've contacted New Orleans police since Colbert's recent arrest.
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Footage shows Colbert leading Manzano into a Comfort Suites hotel around 5am Wednesday. Colbert left and returned to the room before departing for good around 6am, hours before Manzano's body was found. Police say his phone was missing, along with a credit card used for fraudulent purchases around the city. Both were allegedly discovered at the home of Colbert, who's been charged with property crimes, though murder charges could come, per the New York Post. Police describe her as a "career criminal." She was charged with drugging and stealing from two men in Las Vegas in 2022, though the cases were dismissed after the victims declined to testify, per the AP. She's also pleaded guilty to fraud in two separate cases out of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, her home state. (More New Orleans stories.)
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