KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said this week that a woman charged with stealing the credit card and cell phone of a Kansas City sports reporter should not have been free at the time of the incident.
Telemundo Kansas City reporter/anchor Adan Manzano was in New Orleans last month covering the Kansas City Chiefs playing in Super Bowl LIX. Several days before the game, Manzano was found dead in his New Orleans hotel room.
An investigation launched into Manzano’s death revealed that a woman, later identified as Danette Colbert, 48, had stolen Manzano’s credit card and cell phone after the pair met in his hotel room early on Feb. 5. Colbert would be eventually charged for attempting to use one of those credit cards.
During a media briefing announcing the original charges, police in Louisiana said Colbert had a history of drugging men. An autopsy performed on Manzano showed he had a sedative drug in his system at the time of his death.
NBC News reported Tuesday that Colbert had been convicted in October 2024 of computer fraud, theft and illegal transmission of monetary funds. The charges were connected to a 2021 scheme.
AG Murrill said in a statement to KSHB 41 News Wednesday that Colbert should not have been eligible for probation given her status as a “habitual offender.”
She also said her office has taken over the prosecution of Colbert in the case involving Manzano after receiving a request from Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams and because the investigation crosses jurisdictional boundaries.
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