Another victim of the woman allegedly caught using a dead Super Bowl reporter’s credit cards is haunted by being unable to stop her crime spree years earlier.
David Butler, 52, was drugged and robbed of his life savings by Danette Colbert, 48, dubbed the ‘Bourbon Street Hustler’ by New Orleans locals, in 2021.
DailyMail.com first revealed how he warned Colbert would one day kill someone if she wasn’t thrown in jail, but no one listened.
His chilling prediction was more than two years before KGKC Telemundo Kansas City reporter Adan Manzano, 27, was found dead last Wednesday.
Security footage obtained by DailyMail.com showed Colbert entering the Comfort Suites in Kenner, Louisiana, with Manzano at 3.46am and leaving alone hours later.
Butler said Colbert ‘almost killed me’ in an eerily similar series of events in November 2021, and suspects the father-of-one was drugged like he was.
‘Being victimized by Danette was deeply traumatic for me, and I have lived with that pain every single day,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘When I heard about Adan’s death on Friday, it added another layer of trauma because I did everything I could to get her off the streets, but it didn’t happen.’
KGKC Telemundo Kansas City reporter Adan Manzano, 27, was found dead in his room at the Comfort Inn in Kenner, Louisiana , about 4pm on Wednesday
Danette Colbert, 48, is known as the ‘Bourbon Street Hustler’ by New Orleans locals and has a sordid criminal history going back to at least 2012
Colbert only received a 10-year suspended sentence and probation, despite a sordid history of drugging and robbing men in two states going back to at least 2012.
Had the courts instead jailed Colbert, she wouldn’t have been free to allegedly do the same to Manzano and he would still be alive, Butler said.
‘She drugged and robbed me using the same tactics she’s employed on others, but thankfully, I survived,’ he said.
‘My story is horrifying, and I fought tirelessly to bring her to justice.
‘When I heard about Mr Manzano’s tragic death, I was overcome with guilt and heartbreak. It’s impossible not to wonder if his death could have been prevented had stronger consequences been imposed in my case.’
Butler explained how he was renovating his property in New Orleans and went out for a drink on Bourbon Street about 1am after a long day.
He was approached by Colbert and another woman who asked if he’d like to drink with them, and he agreed.
‘I accepted a seemingly innocent invitation to share a drink, as I have done countless times in my life,’ he said.
‘Ms Colbert and her associate approached me, friendly and inviting, and I joined them at a nearby bar.
‘I trusted that the night would be no different from any other social encounter in New Orleans, where new friendships are often made in shared moments. But my trust was deeply and irrevocably betrayed.’
At some point during the evening, he briefly stepped away from their table and left his cocktail unattended, which he finished on his return.
He soon after ‘felt a strange, overpowering sensation’ and was dizzy and disoriented. Colbert offered to get him a ride home, which he accepted.
Telemundo reporter Adan Manzano is seen trailing behind the ‘Bourbon Street Hustler’, Danette Colbert, in what is the last photo of him alive, taken on February 5
The footage – exclusively obtained by Daily Mail – shows Manzano and Colbert entering the Comfort Suites in Kenner, Louisiana , on February 5 at 3.46am
Butler was bundled into a black Chevy Suburban outside, which he said was the last thing he remembered before waking up on a mattress in his property.
‘I was drugged at a bar, became disoriented, and was loaded into a taxi by Danette. I woke up the next evening with no memory of what had happened,’ he said.
Butler was in such a deep sleep that the property manager had to yell and shake him before he came to.
‘When my friend finally found me, he thought I might be dead, and even after I regained consciousness, I felt lost, unable to think clearly,’ he said.
‘The ordeal was a nightmare from which I have yet to fully awaken.’
He discovered that his wallet and phone were gone and while trying to figure out where they were, discovered tens of thousands of dollars worth of charges on his credit card.
‘I later learned that Danette used my biometrics to access my iPhone. She apparently turned off Find My Phone function on my phone,’ he said.
Also gone was more than $85,000 in retirement saving stashed away in a cryptocurrency account, leaving him nearly penniless.
‘During the investigation, one of the detectives told me that Danette had recently purchased a new Mercedes AMG, likely using the money she stole from me,’ Butler said.
‘Learning she used my life savings to fund her luxurious lifestyle was a slap in the face and only deepened the emotional toll of her crimes.’
Butler was able to track Colbert down from her crypto account name QueenTX100, which was exactly the same name as her Facebook page – and still is.
He said he regretted not going to hospital to get a toxicology screen to prove he was drugged, as he was too caught up in trying to recover his property.
‘I regret not seeking medical assistance immediately after the incident, but I am grateful simply to be alive. The physical and emotional trauma I endured – and continue to endure – is staggering,’ he said.
‘I am now forced to work tirelessly to make up for what was stolen, and my dreams of a secure retirement have been replaced by financial uncertainty.’
A sheepish Manzano trails behind Colbert, whose previous arrests including drugging men to steal from them
Manzano was found unresponsive in his room around 12 hours after he was seen entering the hotel for a final time. Colbert was filmed leaving the hotel at 5.21am – two hours after arriving with Manzano
Butler said it was not until later that week that he started to feel like himself and the fog in his head started to clear.
‘I am very lucky to be alive. Danette Colbert left me for dead,’ he said.
Colbert was not arrested until May 2023 and the case dragged on until last November when she was finally convicted at trial.
Orleans Criminal District Judge Nandi Campbell sentenced her to 10 years in prison, but all of it was suspended, plus five years probation.
Colbert was also ordered to pay Butler $50,000 in restitution in $834 monthly increments. Butler said he was yet to receive a single cent.
‘She stole the majority of my retirement savings and the court’s leniency left me devastated,’ he said.
‘Waking up after being drugged and realizing the financial and emotional devastation left in the wake of Danette’s actions has haunted me every day for over three years.’
Butler said what Colbert did to him shattered his sense of safety and ability to trust people, and left him psychologically impaired to this day.
‘I carry a gun just to walk my dog, and I have installed cameras around my home. I wake frequently through the night, plagued by anxiety and flashbacks,’ he said.
‘The fear and paranoia that grip me are constant companions, manifesting in physical symptoms like heart palpitations, nausea, and trembling.
‘Relationships with my loved ones have suffered, as my personality has changed; I am more irritable, isolated, and fearful.
‘I obsessively check my accounts and avoid social situations. I feel constantly on edge, stuck in a state of hyper-vigilance.’
Butler said he bore no ill will toward local police or prosecutors, who fought for Colbert to receive a stiffer sentence.
‘The fault lies squarely with the judge, whose failure to sentence her appropriately has now had devastating consequences,’ he said.
Butler wrote to Campbell in December expressing his fear that Colbert would continue to target men, as she did every time she was released in other cases.
‘The minimal fines and lack of meaningful incarceration for crimes that could have led to serious injury or loss of life are, quite frankly, an insult to public safety and the justice system,’ he wrote.
‘If someone dies due to her actions in the future, their blood will undeniably be on the hands of those who allowed her to escape real accountability today.’
Manzano was the only one to die, meeting her on his NFL reporting trip just none months after his wife Ashleigh, mother of his young daughter, died in a car crash
Butler said he hoped people wouldn’t judge Manzano for bringing Colbert to his hotel, noting he may already have been drugged.
‘For the sake of his family and friends, we must wait for all the facts to come to light,’ he said.
‘Based on my experience, there’s a possibility that he wasn’t engaging in anything illegal or nefarious, like seeking drugs or prostitution.
‘When Danette targeted me, similar insinuations were made by law enforcement and her defense attorney, but they were completely unfounded.’
Butler kept tabs on Colbert even since he was robbed, warning on Twitter ‘she is going to end up killing someone’ in August 2022 in response to a report of her being arrested yet again.
‘I was also drugged and robbed by Danette Colbert in NOLA in the fall of 2021… She almost killed me and stole over 100k from me,’ he wrote.
‘I am disgusted by how she is out on bail.’
Security footage showed Manzano entering the hotel and never emerging again, later found face-down on his bed by the hotel manager after his TV station called for a welfare check when he missed a morning assignment.
Colbert, on the other hand, left the room twice. She first emerged at 4.45am, leaving the room alone and returning 20 minutes later.
She then made two trips to reception, where it appeared she requested an extra key for the room, then left at 5.21am for a final time.
Colbert was arrested about 9pm on Thursday after allegedly using his credit cards at several shops, and charged with fraud and property crimes
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said Colbert was a ‘career criminal’ with a long history of drugging and robbing men after luring them in bars.
‘Ms Colbert has quite a record and rap sheet for confidence games, access device fraud, and robbery schemes,’ he said.
‘As soon as the coroner finishes with his findings, he will classify it as either a homicide or whatever death the evidence leads him to.’
Colbert in her previous crimes relentlessly targeted young men out on the town, three wearing Rolex watches that she stole, and seduced and/or drugged them.
Manzano died after a night out during an NFL reporting trip just nine months after his wife Ashleigh, the mother of his young daughter, died in a car crash.
He was seen entering his room with Colbert about 4am that morning, before she left alone just a few minutes later.
She was arrested about 9pm last Thursday after allegedly using his credit cards at several shops, and charged with fraud and property crimes.
Colbert was not charged with a crime directly relating to Manzano’s death and toxicology reports are still pending. He had no obvious signs of trauma.
The episode is eerily similar to numerous other crimes Colbert committed against men she picked up at bars in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
Her first known conviction was from a simple robbery in New Orleans in 2012. She skipped several court dates before eventually pleading guilty to possession of stolen goods, and given two years probation on October 1, 2013.
Then on November 4, 2014, she talked her way into a tourist’s hotel room and left with $100 cash, his credit cards, and a $4,000 Rolex watch.
Manzano was seen entering his room with Colbert about 4am that morning, before she left alone just a few minutes later
Colbert met the 35-year-old man on Bourbon Street at 4am and ‘inquired if he wanted to party with her’ – to which he agreed.
He took her to a convenience store to withdraw cash and eventually to his hotel room, only to wake up at 10am to find his property gone.
The plot thickened after police laid a trap at a Winn Dixie grocery store she where had used her victim’s credit card 20 times.
Detectives gave the manager a wanted poster with CCTV images of her wearing a blonde wig in the hotel, and he called them when she arrived on November 16.
But police were too slow to catch her, and she returned three hours later with two accomplices to take revenge.
‘You called the police,’ she yelled at the manager while he was serving another customer, then the trio beat him in the head with a blunt object.
Colbert was finally arrested, with charges of second-degree battery and witness intimidation added. All together, she racked up $3,584.86 on the stolen cards.
She received a sentence of eight years of probation and a five-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty in May 2015.
Colbert didn’t stay out of trouble for long. Next, she approached a man who was drinking at a bar with friend on Bourbon Street on November 30, 2016.
This time assisted by two other women, she again propositioned the man who woke up in his hotel room missing his phone, two credit cards, and Rolex watch.
She was again undone by an observant manager, who saw her buy $1,500 worth of gift cards at a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Kenner.
Another $105.45 was swindled when she bought paper towels and got a cash back.
This time Colbert was jailed for three years in May 2017, but was out of jail in time to run up another tab on a credit card that wasn’t hers in May 2018.
Colbert was caught in 2014 when detectives gave the manager a wanted poster with CCTV images of her wearing a blonde wig in the hotel, and he called them when she arrived
Her crime was much easier that time, as she simply found a lost credit card at a Bourbon Street strip club and charged $3,000 at a Sam’s Club.
She and two other women then tried to buy gift cards plus a $3,000 cash back at a Walmart in Gretna, Louisiana, and arrested on the spot.
For that crime, she got five years probation – despite repeatedly breaking earlier probations.
Her next arrest was in May 2022 over a crime earlier that year on January 17.
Colbert picked up a man who thought he was about to have a threesome with her and another woman at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas.
Instead, he woke up with a bloody nose missing $50,000 cash, a $30,000 Rolex watch, $11,000 in casino chips, his iPhone 11, a Louis Vuitton luggage bag worth $5,000 and a satchel valued at $2,000.
He told police he made drinks for the women in his room, but gave one of them $200 to leave because she was rude.
The last thing he remembered was walking the woman to the door, and told police he believed he was drugged. CCTV showed Colbert leave minutes after the first woman.
‘Colbert is seen leaving [the victim’s] room alone carrying a large black bag,’ police said at the time.
Colbert was arrested in May 2022 after robbing a man in his hotel room at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas
Wynn spotted the women at the casino again on January 29 and called police, leading to her being interrogated, and eventually charged.
While on bail for this crime, Colbert drugged and robbed yet another man in Sin City – this time at the Encore casino on July 9.
Yet again, a man invited her and another woman back to his hotel room and they started drinking.
‘While sitting on the couch, one of the females grabbed [his] head, forced it back, while the other female poured an unidentified liquid down his throat,’ police said.
‘[He] described the liquid to smell like tequila but was unsure.’
Soon he became dizzy and realized he had been drugged, and the women took advantage of the situation to demand money.
Through his stupor, he refused – so they attacked him until he was able to force them out of his room.
Next morning he woke up and found his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch worth $60,000, $1,500 in casino chips and his credit card were missing.
He checked his credit card statement and saw they already racked up a bill.
Another wanted poster for Colbert in New Orleans in 2021
Police arrested both women days later when they returned to the Las Vegas strip, and Colbert claimed the man gave her $1,100 in chips to dance for him.
‘These are the same casino chips [the victim] reported stolen after being drugged,’ police said.
‘Surveillance video shows Colbert cashing the chips at the cashier’s cage of the casino.’
Again, she was let out on bail in time to speed down Las Vegas Boulevard on August 12, 2022, at 97mph in a 25mph school zone.
‘When the lights are flashing for a school zone to reduce your speed, it’s not a suggestion!’ police wrote on Twitter with a photo of her black Mustang being towed.
‘If YOU choose to drive 97MPH in a 25MPH school zone, YOU choose to take a ride to Clark County Detention Center!’
Despite being seen weaving in and out of traffic, Colbert insisted to police that she did nothing wrong when they pulled her over.
The police report showed Colbert told the officer he would have to prove she was speeding, and that he only pulled her over because she was black.
Colbert was arrested for speeding down Las Vegas Boulevard on August 12, 2022, at 97mph in a 25mph school zone
Police mocked her crime in a Twitter post showing her black Mustang being towed
New Orleans locals were stunned that the notorious Colbert was arrested in Las Vegas instead of being in jail.
‘How is she out on bail… Holy shit… In New Orleans they call her the Bourbon street Hustler,’ one wrote online in 2022 after seeing a police report.
Finally, record from last year showed Colbert’s crimes spread to a third state – her home jurisdiction of Tennessee.
Colbert was arrested after police saw her attacking a man outside the Downtown Nashville Moxy last June.
As the officers approached, they saw her follow the man while yelling and pushing him until they we able to intervene.
Police said Colbert was visibly drunk and stank of alcohol. She told them she met the man while bar hopping on Broadway.
She was booked for disorderly conduct and public intoxication and released on a $1,000 bond.
Colbert is so far only being charged the same kind of property crimes as her previous arrests in the Manzano case, Kenner deputy police chief Mark McCormick said.
They include bank fraud, computer fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, access device fraud, and purse snatching.
‘Obviously, there are allegations in [Colbert’s] past criminal history that make us consider that. But we don’t have anything at this point,’ McCormick said.
Manzano is a Mexico native, but went to college at Kansas State before taking a local job
Manzano (seen this week in New Orleans) was described by his employers as a ‘rising star’
Manzano graduated from Kansas State University and joined the Chiefs’ beat at the beginning of the 2024 season as a sideline reporter.
He was covering his third straight Super Bowl, having also been in Arizona and Las Vegas before this month’s visit to New Orleans.
On Monday night, Manzano posted photos from the Super Bowl’s opening night at the Superdome, where he was on duty interviewing the players.
He was also a regular soccer reporter, covering Sporting Kansas City, and of Big 12 basketball and the Kansas Jayhawks.
In New Orleans this week, he had already interviewed Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and other Chiefs players.
