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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. She was found guilty of theft and fraud charges in an unrelated case last year, and, in 2022, was arrested twice in Las Vegas on felony charges for grad larceny and administering a drug to aid in a felony crime according to court records.
In the Las Vegas cases, Colbert was accused of drugging men in their hotel rooms and stealing from them. However, the charges were ultimately dismissed because the victims did not want to testify in court, Colbert’s attorney in those cases, Daniel Lippmann, told the Associated Press earlier this year.
Detectives believe Colbert and Manzano met during a night out, and, later, she later allegedly gave him a drug in his hotel room to incapacitate him before stealing his phone and credit card, WWL-TV reported. Authorities have accused White of helping to facilitate the thefts, including by providing transportation, the station reported.
They also say White and Colbert communicated multiple times on the day Manzano died, with some of their text messages containing discussions about obtaining victims’ PIN numbers and using “knock outs” to incapacitate them, WWL-TV reported, citing court records.
Kenner Police are coordinating with the Louisiana State Police, the state Attorney General’s Office and the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office as they continue to investigate Manzano’s death.
