Suspended Virginia Tech linebacker indicted for murder charge in Blacksburg

A Montgomery County grand jury has indicted suspended Virginia Tech Hokies linebacker Isimemen David Etute.

Etute, 18, stands accused of murdering 40-year-old Jerry Paul Smith. He beat Smith upon realizing he was a man, not a woman as he’d thought, after a sexual encounter.

The Virginia Beach native will be tried in the county’s Circuit Court. He has a hearing on Nov. 18 for attorneys to work out a timeline for the remainder of the case.

Virginia Tech placed Etute on interim suspension as of June 2, the day police arrested him. Law enforcement found Blacksburg resident Jerry Smith, a restaurant project manger, dead in his home after a wellness check. Etute was initially considered a person of interest and has since been charged with second-degree homicide.

Hokies’ Etute admitted to beating victim

Smith and Etute allegedly met on April 10 and had oral sex. They arranged their meeting through the dating app Tinder. Etute thought he was meeting a woman named Angie. Other details revealed in the preliminary hearings suggest that Smith also paid Etute $50.

The young football player went to Smith’s apartment a second time in May with two friends. He said his intention was to find out if Smith was male or female, according to attorneys and witnesses.

A detective testified at Etute’s preliminary hearing that the football player told investigators that on May 31, he groped Smith to try to determine his gender. Using his phone’s flashlight, he tried get a better look at Smith in the dark apartment. Then Etute described punching the man when he realized he had hair on his face.

The suspended Virginia Tech linebacker told detectives he heard the man breathing as he left but never called 911.

The 18-year-old is currently free, living with his family in Virginia Beach. He’s out on a $75,000 bond, with electronic monitoring requirements.