The Louisiana woman accused of theft in connection with the death of a Super Bowl reporter near New Orleans last month will also be charged with second-degree murder in the case, authorities said Tuesday.
Danette Colbert, 48, was booked on the charge Tuesday morning, Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley told reporters.
Colbert’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Colbert has been in custody without bond since her arrest Feb. 7, two days after Adan Manzano, 27, was found dead in his hotel room in Kenner, west of New Orleans.
Manzano, a Kansas City-based reporter for Telemundo, was last seen entering his hotel room with Colbert on the morning of Feb. 5, authorities have said. His body was discovered later that day.
Preliminary toxicology testing found that he had Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety drug often sold under the brand name Xanax, in his body at the time of his death, an investigator with the Kenner Police Department said at a bond hearing last month. Manzano did not have a prescription for the drug, the investigator said.
Investigators found what they believe is Manzano’s cell phone at Colbert’s home, according to Kenner Deputy Police Chief Mark McCormick, who said she also allegedly used his credit card at a New Orleans-area store.
She was charged last month with bank fraud, computer fraud, robbery, illegal transmission of monetary funds and purse snatching, court records show.
Colbert was previously charged in at least five fraud and theft cases in two states, some of which included allegations of drugging. Since the announcement of her arrest in Manzano’s death last month, authorities in Kenner have fielded a dozen inquiries from people who believe they or a loved one were a victim of Colbert’s, McCormick has said.
In one case, a man told NBC News he had been having a drink with her at a French Quarter bar when he became disoriented and Colbert shuttled him into a waiting SUV.
When he awoke hours later in a nearby home he was working on, his phone was missing and $80,000 in savings had vanished from his cryptocurrency account.
Colbert was convicted in that case and given five years’ probation — a sentence the Louisiana Attorney General recently described as improper because of Colbert’s criminal history.
She previously pleaded guilty in two other Louisiana cases, serving probation in one and prison time in another. Charges in two Las Vegas cases were dropped when the victims said they did not want to testify in court, Colbert’s attorney in those cases told the Associated Press.
Two other men told NBC News that they believe Colbert was behind a French Quarter Uber scam that led to the theft of their phones and thousands of dollars linked to accounts on their devices. Both men said they reported their allegations to the New Orleans Police Department in 2021, at the time of the alleged crimes, but no arrests have been made.
Colbert has not been identified as a suspect in either case. A department spokesperson has said that it investigates every case filed with it and detectives are examining “any and all” cases that could be linked to Colbert.
Authorities also suspect Colbert had a part in the Dec. 15 death of John Jenkins, 55, who was found unresponsive in a New Orleans hotel, according to McCormick.
Jenkins’ death was ruled accidental and attributed to cocaine and ethanol toxicity. McCormick did not provide details about what role authorities believe Colbert played in his death.
The Louisiana State Police and New Orleans police, which are assisting in the investigation, have said they were not able to discuss any of the details involved in the investigation.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
