Woman sentenced to life in prison, plus 75 years, for death of Kansas City sports reporter Adan Manzano

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A woman will spend life in prison, plus 75 years, for the death of Kansas City sports reporter Adan Manzano in New Orleans before Super Bowl LIX in February 2025.

A Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, judge Wednesday resentenced 49-year-old Danette Colbert after he found Colbert to be a career criminal because of her long history of felony convictions.

Colbert was most recently convicted of negligent homicide in connection with Manzano’s death and of racketeering.

According to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney, the racketeering charge stems from Colbert's role in a years-long scheme in which she and others lured men to hotel rooms, where she provided them with drugs that caused them to sleep. Colbert and others would then steal from the sleeping men.

Manzano was covering the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX for Telemundo KC when he met Colbert while in the French Quarter.

Surveillance footage captured Colbert entering Manzano's hotel room early Feb. 5. Manzano was later found dead that same day inside the room.

Manzano died from a combination of the drug alprazolam, also known as Xanax, and alcohol.

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