{"id":1492060,"date":"2022-05-25T16:45:17","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T20:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1492060"},"modified":"2022-05-25T16:45:26","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T20:45:26","slug":"former-virginia-tech-football-player-goes-on-trial-for-murder-of-cross-dressing-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-virginia-tech-football-player-goes-on-trial-for-murder-of-cross-dressing-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Virginia Tech Football Player Goes On Trial For Murder Of Cross-Dressing Man"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-virginia-tech-football-player-goes-on-trial-for-murder-of-cross-dressing-man%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1492060&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The murder trial of a former Virginia Tech football player who allegedly killed a cross-dressing man begins on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Isimemen Etute faces a second-degree murder charge over the May 2021 death of 40-year-old Jerry Smith, which will take place in Montgomery County Circuit Court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEtute said he visited Smith\u2019s apartment that April after he was matched with someone named \u2018Angie\u2019 on Tinder, and returned on May 31 to determine whether his match was male or female, attorneys and witnesses said at earlier hearings,\u201d ESPN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-football\/story\/_\/id\/33947730\/former-virginia-tech-hokies-football-player-pleads-not-guilty-beating-death\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA detective testified that Etute groped Smith and used his phone\u2019s flashlight to get a better look in the dark apartment before repeatedly punching the victim, according to court records,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n<p>During a June hearing, prosecutors noted that Smith and Etute had known each other for a brief time prior to the incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProsecutors say Etute met Smith through a dating app, but the 18-year-old thought that Smith was a woman named Angie. The pair met, at which time Smith reportedly gave Etute oral sex,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wric.com\/news\/virginia-news\/virginia-tech-football-player-facing-murder-charge-due-in-court-for-bond-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> WRIC-TV.<\/p>\n<p>The graphic nature of the brutal attack was described in a local WDBJ report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Commonwealth\u2019s Attorney says Etute punched Smith five times in the head, making Smith fall, at which point Etute stepped on Smith\u2019s head until blood was bubbling from him,\u201d WDBJ-TV <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdbj7.com\/2022\/03\/30\/federal-court-documents-suggest-hate-crime-investigation-against-etute\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>. \u201cAn exam indicated every bone in Smith\u2019s face was broken, and he had missing and broken teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Etute was released on a $75,000 bond last June. He was placed \u201cunder house arrest and electronic monitoring while living with his family in Virginia Beach,\u201d the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/college-football-sports-crime-virginia-6a5c03da00f0ce1f1c19693b1c3062fb\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He was also suspended from the university and the football team during the pending investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Etute has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. He could face a sentence of between 12 and 20 years in prison if convicted, according to state sentencing guidelines, USA Today <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/ex-virginia-tech-linebacker-isi-172856331.html\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEtute admitted to hitting Angie \u2013 who family members later identified as an openly gay man named Jerry Paul Smith \u2013 five times with his right hand, then kicking him in the face when he was on the ground, according to excerpts of an interview with police included in a federal search warrant application,\u201d the USA Today reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe claimed that Smith wasn\u2019t talking when he left the apartment but appeared to be breathing and \u2018making noises.\u2019 Only later, Etute told police, did he notice the blood on his sandals,\u201d the outlet added. A family member claimed to find Smith\u2019s body the next day.<\/p>\n<p>The former Virginia Tech player may also face federal hate crime charges in Smith\u2019s death. In March, unsealed warrants showed an FBI agent requested data from Etute\u2019s cell phone, Tinder account, and the cell phones of three other Virginia Tech players in June 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation was conducted regarding potential violations of federal Hate Crime Acts, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvnstv.com\/news\/virginia-news\/warrants-show-potential-hate-crime-investigation-involving-isimemen-etute-other-vt-football-players\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> WFXR-TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The murder trial of a former Virginia Tech football player who allegedly killed a cross-dressing man begins on Wednesday. Isimemen Etute faces a second-degree murder charge over the May 2021 death of 40-year-old Jerry Smith, which will take place in Montgomery County Circuit Court. \u201cEtute said he visited Smith\u2019s apartment that April after he was &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":325,"featured_media":1492099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1492060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1492099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1492060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1492060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}