Louisiana authorities on Monday charged a second suspect with murder in the death of a television reporter who had traveled to New Orleans to cover the Super Bowl.
Adan Manzano, a 27-year-old reporter and anchor for Telemundo based in Kansas City, Missouri, was found dead Feb. 5 in his hotel room in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. A woman seen on security video leaving Manzano’s room was later charged with second-degree murder and with stealing his credit cards and cellphone.
Kenner police announced Monday that an accomplice, 34-year-old Rickey White, has also been charged with second-degree murder. White was arrested in Florida in March on robbery and fraud charges related to Manzano’s death, then extradited to Louisiana.
Kenner police said in a news release that the murder charge against White resulted from “continued investigative efforts,” but officials gave no further details.
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said at a news conference March 18 that investigators had linked White to Danette Colbert, the first suspect charged in the case, based on “correspondence and information where they were going back and forth. So we think they were working hand-in-hand in concert with each other.”
An attorney for White, Kevin Boshea, said he hadn’t been informed of the murder charge before an Associated Press reporter called him Monday.
“I don’t think he’s guilty of the other crimes,” Boshea said, “so how can he be guilty of murder?”
Boshea said he pressed police during a preliminary hearing on the robbery and fraud charges last month to show evidence that White was in the New Orleans area when Manzano died, but they presented none.
An attorney for Colbert had said that police were making “assumptions and guesses” to link her to Manzano’s death.
Under Louisiana law, a defendant can be charged with second-degree murder for distributing drugs that cause a death or for committing certain crimes, including robbery, that result in someone dying.
An autopsy found Manzano died lying facedown on a pillow and unable to breathe after ingesting a combination of alcohol and the depressant Xanax, Jefferson Parish Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich told reporters in March.
Police said security video from Manzano’s hotel showed him and Colbert entering his room together the day of his death. Footage showed Colbert leaving without him about an hour later. Authorities have said Colbert later used Manzano’s credit card to make a purchase at a New Orleans gas station and at several stores in the area.
Police have also said Manzano’s medical records showed no prescriptions for Xanax or other depressants, and that they recovered the drug from Colbert’s home.
