Woman accused of second-degree murder in death of sports reporter covering Super Bowl

Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old sports reporter, was found dead near New Orleans days before he planned to cover the Super Bowl LIX. A Louisiana woman has now been charged with second-degree murder in his death. Denny Medley/USA Today Sports/Imagn Images/Reuters via CNN Newsource

A Louisiana woman who was previously facing fraud and other charges after the death of sports reporter Adan Manzano has now been charged with second-degree murder in his death, the Kenner Police Department announced Tuesday.

Danette Colbert, 48, was seen with Manzano at his hotel in Kenner, Louisiana, days before Super Bowl LIX, Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said.

“We don’t want Ms. Colbert to see the light of day again,” the police chief said during a news conference on Tuesday.

CNN has reached out to Colbert’s attorney for comment.

Conley declined to discuss more details of the charge against Colbert, saying he didn’t want to “compromise the adjudication” of the case.

Manzano, 27, worked for the local Telemundo station in Kansas City and had traveled to New Orleans to report on the Super Bowl when he was found dead on February 5. Police said Colbert and Manzano were seen together in several places around the French Quarter and surveillance video showed them at Manzano’s hotel the morning of his death.

On Tuesday, Jefferson Parish Coroner Gerald Cvitanovich said Manzano died due to the “combined toxic effects” of alprazolam, commonly sold under the brand name Xanax, and alcohol along with positional asphyxia, which means he was found face down on a pillow. Cvitanovich said Manzano’s manner of death remains undetermined.

“We recognize it’s going to be a circumstantial case,” Conley said. “The fact that we crossed a hurdle getting a probable cause affidavit signed for her being charged with second-degree murder is a good start.”

Law enforcement officials said a man they described as Colbert’s “accomplice” was arrested in South Florida last week.

Rickey White, 34, is detained in Florida’s Broward County and is awaiting extradition to Louisiana, Conley said. He “was charged with the property crimes of simple robbery, access device fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, bank fraud and computer fraud,” Conley said, noting those are the same charges that Colbert initially faced.

CNN has not identified an attorney for White.

Colbert was arrested on February 6 and charged with property crimes after police found Manzano’s cell phone and credit card in her home. She was ordered to be held without bond at a February 25 hearing in connection with her initial charges.