Louisiana
Activists protest first execution in Louisiana in 15 years; argue it will set precedent
BATON ROUGE — Hours before the execution of convicted murderer and rapist Jessie Hoffman was put on hold pending a hearing, a group of activists gathered outside the State Capitol to protest his death sentence.
The activists hoped to change Gov. Jeff Landry’s mind and argued that killing Hoffman, regardless of his crimes, would be inhumane and a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
The activists collected signatures for a petition attempting to convince Landry to stop the execution. They brought the signatures to officials in the Capitol.
Activists from Death Penalty Action stood on the steps of the State Capitol in front of a sign advocating to “DOGE the death penalty,” referencing the ongoing initiative spearheaded by Elon Musk with the expressed goal of reducing government spending.
The sign says that capital punishment, including the nitrogen gas-induced asphyxia that Hoffman faces as the first execution victim in the state in 15 years, is one of the most inefficient government programs.
“Jesse Hoffman may be guilty of the murder that he is scheduled to be executed for, but sooner or later, we’re going to get it wrong,” Executive Director of Death Penalty Action Abraham Bonowitz said. “And it’s not just about ‘Did the person do the crime?’ But are they fully culpable?”
The activists also rang a bell in protest of the execution, evoking the phrase “For whom the bell tolls,” which evokes the tolling of church bells, which signified death taking a toll on the entire community, regardless of culpability.
Hoffman’s execution was scheduled for Tuesday but was halted Monday, saying the Buddhist inmate needed time to press his claim that his death by asphyxia could be torturous and impact his later rebirth.

Louisiana
Louisiana police arrest third suspect in Super Bowl reporter Adan Manzano’s hotel death

Louisiana police have arrested a third suspect in connection with Super Bowl reporter Adan Manzano’s hotel room murder.
Manzano, a 27-year-old Kansas City, Missouri-based Telemundo sports reporter, was in New Orleans on assignment to cover Super Bowl LIX. He was found dead with Xanax in his system in his room at the Comfort Suites hotel in Kenner, Louisiana, on the morning of Feb. 5.
Officials said his death was caused by the combined toxic effects of Xanax and alcohol, noting that he had been found “face-down in a pillow with no lividity around his nose and mouth.” Since then, Kenner police have arrested so-called “Bourbon Street Hustler” Danette Colbert, 48, and her accused accomplice, Ricky White, in connection with Manzano’s death,
On Friday, Kenner police also announced the arrest of Christian Anderson, 33, a New Orleans resident, for his alleged involvement in the plot that led to Manzano’s death.
LOUISIANA POLICE ANNOUNCE UPDATE IN ‘BOURBON STREET HUSTLER’ CASE AFTER SUPER BOWL REPORTER’S DRUG DEATH
Ricky White, left, Danette Colbert and Christian Anderson have all been charged in connection with the robbery scheme that led to sports reporter Adan Manzano’s death. (Kenner PD)
Colbert was nicknamed the “Bourbon Street Hustler” on social media due to her lengthy past targeting men in the French Quarter and stealing their money. She is accused of similar crimes in Las Vegas. Authorities believe she, White and Anderson conspired to drug Manzano and then steal his credit cards before authorities found him dead.
Colbert and Manzano “met in the French Quarter, probably in the wee hours of the morning,” Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley previously told Fox News Digital.
SUPER BOWL REPORTER DEAD IN LOUISIANA HOTEL HAD XANAX IN SYSTEM AFTER ‘BOURBON STREET HUSTLER’ MEETUP: POLICE

Telemundo reporter Adan Manzano was seen entering the Comfort Suites hotel with theft suspect Danette Colbert just before his death. (Kenner Police Department/ Telemundo)
“They came back to the hotel that was in the city of Kenner about 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 5, at which time we do have surveillance video from the lobby of the hotel showing them going into [Manzano’s] room around that time,” Conley said. “Then [Colbert] came out, ran to the store, came back about 30 minutes later, and within 10 or 15 minutes, she left the room. And he was never seen again on any video other than when he went into the room. So, she was the last one to be with him.”
Detectives found that one of Manzano’s credit cards was missing while processing his hotel room, Conley told reporters during a news conference on Feb. 8. Authorities then obtained a search warrant allowing them to track the locations where the credit card was used after Manzano was found, which led them to Colbert.
NEW ORLEANS ‘BOURBON STREET HUSTLER’ SUSPECT IN SUPER BOWL REPORTER DEATH MAY BE TIED TO 2ND FATALITY: POLICE

Kenner police described Colbert as a “career criminal.” (Kenner PD)
White is facing various charges, including simple robbery and multiple counts of fraud. He was later charged with murder in connection with Manzano’s death.
Authorities have also obtained an arrest warrant for Anderson for principal to simple robbery, purse snatching, access device fraud, illegal transmission of monetary funds, bank fraud and computer fraud. He is currently detained at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center alongside Colbert and White, Kenner police said.
LOUISIANA HOTEL SURVEILLANCE SHOWS SUPER BOWL REPORTER WITH ‘BOURBON STREET HUSTLER’ JUST BEFORE DEATH

Adan Manzano was on assignment at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. (Telemundo Kansas City)
“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,” Kenner police said in a Friday press release.
“Detectives discovered that the vehicle used by Danette Colbert on the day of Manzano’s death had been rented by Christian Anderson, and further evidence showed that Anderson provided logistical support, engaged in post-crime communication, and assisted in attempts to financially benefit from the victim’s stolen assets.”
‘BOURBON STREET HUSTLER’ ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO SUPER BOWL REPORTER’S DEATH LINKED TO LAS VEGAS DRUGGING
Records also allegedly show that “Anderson and Colbert communicated extensively following the incident, and that he played a role in the group’s recurring criminal behavior,” Kenner police said.

Adan Manzano covered the Kansas City Chiefs. (Telemundo Kansas City)
Colbert was recently sentenced to serve 25 years in prison for crimes unrelated to Manzano’s death, including theft, computer fraud and illegal transmission of monetary funds stemming from a 2024 case.
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Police are asking anyone with information about Colbert to come forward. Some victims, Conley said, do not speak up, due to the sensitive nature of the suspect’s alleged crimes.
Authorities executed a search warrant at Colbert’s address after identifying her as a potential suspect in connection with Manzano’s death and said they had located a stolen gun that did not appear to be related to Manzano’s death and narcotics.
Louisiana
City to close problem hotel along Louisiana Friday

The Barcelona Suites off Louisiana seems to be the latest problem property on the city’s radar.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Barcelona Suites off Louisiana seems to be the latest problem property on the city’s radar.
Cops were seen going in and out of rooms on the property around 10 a.m. Thursday morning.
This wouldn’t be the first hotel to run into issues, the city recently closed some hotels off Coors and Illif.
The city’s Planning Department told KOB 4 this was an announced inspection, they posted 24-hour notices on the property Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, Code Enforcement and APD conducted the inspection, ultimately decided to close the hotel by 2 p.m. Friday.
Residents near the Barcelona suites on Louisiana are breathing a sigh of relief.
“There has been so many activities going down the last couple of years, it has just gotten worse and worse. Shootings, stabbings, drug activity all hours of the day,” said Wendy Tafoya, a nearby Resident.
“It’s the best thing ever, I feel a great relief,” said Mickie Johnson, a fellow nearby resident.
Tafoya said all the commotion Thursday morning at the problem hotel was hard to miss. Then an Albuquerque police officer knocked on her door to deliver the news.
“This morning, we noticed that there was a bunch of police and police activity then one of the officers came and told us that what they were doing is they were going to shut that building down because it has become a nuisance,” she said.
We spoke to multiple residents who say their neighborhood association has been trying to get the hotel on the city’s radar, but the work doesn’t stop here.
“My concern is what are they going to do next,” said another resident who did not want to be on camera.
While the hotel is shutting down, they worry that won’t solve the issue of homelessness in the community.
“I have mixed emotions about the motel because I know that it is not kept good. My feeling is they will congregate there, there is no doubt about that. Demolishing it, maybe. Unless there is a good owner who says in writing that they are going to fix it up,” said the resident.
The city said this was a large operation. We are expecting to hear more from the planning department and city leaders Friday afternoon after the hotel closes.
Louisiana
Top prosecutor says 2 remaining New Orleans jail escapees may be in other cities: “They can’t hide forever”

Two inmates — Antoine Massey and Derrick Groves — who were among 10 people who escaped from a New Orleans jail nearly two weeks ago may be in other cities, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told CBS News in an interview on Wednesday.
Eight of the 10 Orleans Parish Prison inmates have been recaptured after their May 16 jailbreak went unnoticed for hours. Some of them were found within the city’s famous French Quarter and others elsewhere within the state of Louisiana, but two of them were found in Texas following extensive surveillance efforts by the U.S. Marshals, authorities said Tuesday.
Attorney General Murrill said the escapees’ primary networks are based in New Orleans, and the high-profile case makes it tougher for them to walk around without being noticed.
“They can keep running, but they can’t hide forever,” Murrill said, adding that she’s confident the two who are still on the run will be taken into custody.
Investigations into what Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called the worst jailbreak in recent state history are ongoing, with at least 13 people arrested in connection with the breakout.
The state’s top prosecutor said there are several factors that led to the escape, including the court system, jail staffing and infrastructure issues. A high-priority problem, Murrill added, is the issue of slow-moving criminal cases in the district’s court system, which she says has led to overcrowding at the facility.
Although one-third of the jail’s security cameras weren’t working at the time, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, one surveillance video captured several inmates forcing open a cell door at about 12:22 a.m. CDT and breaching a wall behind the cell’s toilet. At around 1 a.m., video showed, the inmates fled the building through a nearby loading dock, according to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The escape went unnoticed by the sheriff’s office until approximately 8:30 a.m. that day. At the time of the escape, no sheriff’s deputy was assigned to the area where the inmates initiated the jailbreak.
The sheriff’s office also said last week that locks on the cells were defective and the escapees were housed in that particular unit due to ongoing renovations at their previous unit, including new locks being installed.
Murrill, who visited the jail on Tuesday, said that one unit has had all hinges and locks replaced, while another 160 cells need to have the same work done.
“I think that there is hardening that needs to happen at that facility that’s just physical changes to things like light bulbs and locks that needs to happen,” Murrill said Wednesday. “But at the end of all this, you really have to be able to efficiently move cases, or you’re still going to have a continuing problem with a violent population that’s there for a very long time, and will continue to beat up and exploit any kind of weakness they can find in that facility.”
In a post on X, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office announced “significant flooding” problems at the jail following the escape, writing, “despite emergency repairs over the weekend, the plumbing challenges still remain, and water is continuing to accumulate in parts of the facility.”
The sheriff’s office added, “OPSO is working to bring in an external water supply to temporarily accommodate the plumbing issue.”
On Wednesday afternoon, inmates at the facility yelled out to CBS News cameras outside the facility, “we need water.”
The attorney general said she has spoken with the sheriff about those issues, as well.
The dysfunction at the correctional facility dates back generations. In 1970, a federal judge declaring its overcrowding to be unconstitutional in 1970. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina stranded inmates in chest-high water and left the jail without power. In 2013, a video showed inmates using drugs, drinking beer and brandishing a gun.
Issues continued even after the 2015 opening of the state-of-the-art Orleans Justice Center, which houses nearly 1,400 inmates. There were major issues with the building from the outset, including a lack of supervision and adequate housing for mentally ill inmates, The Associated Press reported.
Following the escape nearly two weeks ago, Gov. Landry ordered the removal of all remaining state Department of Corrections prison inmates from the facility.
The Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams also vocalized concerns about the sheriff’s office’s ability to securely conduct business, telling CBS News in an interview Monday night he plans to request for a private security detail to temporarily secure the New Orleans courthouse.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson, who oversees the jail, said she “takes full accountability” for the escape. She also announced she was temporarily suspending her reelection campaign, saying, in part: “Now is the time to focus on security, accountability, and public safety.”
When asked what policy changes need to happen to ensure another jailbreak doesn’t happen, Murrill said: “I think that jail officials know the population at their jail, and they know whether that it’s suitable for the population that they have.”
She added that everyone in the community needs to be paying attention and “participates in insisting that the leadership, the facility, and the court system are all doing their part to protect us and to move these cases through.”
contributed to this report.
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