A third suspect has been arrested in what police are calling a "scheme" that led to the death of Adan Manzano, a Kansas City Telemundo sports reporter who was in New Orleans covering Super Bowl 59, Louisiana police said Friday.
Christian Anderson, 33, was arrested and charged in the Feb. 5 death of Manzano, 27, who was covering the Super Bowl appearance by the Kansas City Chiefs. Anderson was charged with robbery, purse snatching, access device fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, and bank and computer fraud, Kenner Police Deputy Chief Mark McCormick said.
Earlier, police in Kenner, Louisiana, a New Orleans suburb, announced second-degree murder charges against Danette Colbert, 48, of Slidell, Louisiana, who was initially arrested on Feb. 6 for using Manzano’s credit card the day after he was found dead. Surveillance video caught Colbert and Manzano going into his hotel room.
Anderson and Colbert were working with Rickey White, 34, who was also charged in May with second-degree murder, McCormick said.
The Jefferson Parish coroner said Manzano died from the combined effects of the prescription drug Xanax and alcohol, in addition to positional asphyxia. He was found face-down on his hotel room pillow, police said.
Anderson allegedly rented the vehicle that Colbert was using on Feb. 5, and he provided “logistical support” by communicating with Colbert after she targeted Manzano, McCormick said.
“Evidence gathered through search warrants, text message records, and digital communications revealed that Anderson, along with previously arrested suspects Danette Colbert and Rickey White, played an active role in a coordinated pattern of targeting victims, drugging them, and stealing personal property, including phones and financial account access,” McCormick wrote in a news release.
Anderson is in custody at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center alongside Colbert and White, McCormick said.
Manzano had a young daughter with his late wife, who was killed in a car crash in 2024.
