What we know about Adan Manzano, the Super Bowl reporter, found dead in hotel after woman convicted in scheme to drug and rob men

A woman from Louisiana was convicted of racketeering and negligent homicide linked to the death of a reporter who was covering the Super Bowl. The victim was identified as Adan Manzano, 27, a reporter for a Kansas City Telemundo affiliate. According to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, he was in town to cover the Super Bowl in 2025. He met Danette Colbert, a sex worker, in the French Quarter, and later he was found dead in his Kenner hotel room from the narcotics she gave them.

Convictions and verdicts in Manzano Case

The District Attorney’s Office also claimed that Manzano died as a result of combined toxic effects of alcohol and Xanax. Authorities said Colbert had drugged him and taken his credit card. Besides Colbert, Rickey White of Harvey, who was described as Colbert’s pimp, was also charged with racketeering and manslaughter. Colbert, 49, of Slidell, and White, 35, were convicted as charged of racketeering.


On Thursday, September 17, 2026, a Jefferson Parish jury found both Colbert and White guilty of racketeering, and they were also charged with manslaughter in Manzano’s death. According to jurors, Colbert was guilty of negligent homicide, a lesser charge, and White was not guilty of manslaughter.

“They and others were engaged in a years-long scheme in which Colbert and other prostitutes lurked in New Orleans’ tourist areas in search of men whom they could lure to their rooms,” the district attorney’s office said in the press release. “Along the way, they secretly provided their unwitting victims with sedatives that would cause them to fall asleep. They then would steal their cell phones, credit cards, and other items of value, including pricy watches.”

The Super Bowl Reporter Incident Timeline

The release further stated that Kenner police also obtained security video from Project NOLA, a nonprofit that operates an array of crime cameras in the French Quarter. Videos showed Manzano and his colleagues partying, and the videos show Manzano with his arm around Colbert at about 3 a.m.

The two drank tequila together, and Colbert drugged Manzano with Xanax. The next day, Manzano’s colleagues felt concerned and had police conduct a wellness check. Manzano was found face down in his bed. He had been dead “an estimated eight to 10 hours,” prosecutors said.

“A third codefendant charged with Colbert and White in the criminal enterprise, Christian Dean Anderson, 35, of Slidell, entered into a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office and testified against the duo this week, laying out details of how the criminal enterprise operated and testifying that he had seen Colbert put drugs in victims’ drinks,” according to the district attorney’s office.

Anderson pleaded guilty to simple robbery and access device fraud. During the trial, prosecutors said another victim of Colbert’s also testified, saying that he had lost $100,000 after meeting the defendant.

According to prosecutors, White “played a central role” in the scheme. “Rickey White was the one they went to for instruction,” Assistant District Attorney Jenny Voss said. “He was the one they went to with the [stolen] property. He was the one who helped them get into the phones and get the money. And he disbursed it from there.”

Both Colbert and White are scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, 2026. Manzano was the single father of a young daughter. A year before Manzano died, his wife, Ashleigh LeeAnn Boyd, was killed in a car crash, WIBW previously reported.

According to the outlet, she was an elementary school teacher who passed away in the 53rd St. car crash in Shawnee County. Boyd, 24, of Topeka, passed away following a two-vehicle, head-on crash just southwest of Topeka in the 7800 block of SW 53rd Street.