Criminal Law
A Former Virginia Tech Player Pleads Not Guilty in a Man’s Death
A former Virginia Tech football player accused of fatally beating a man he met on an online dating site and had initially believed to be a woman pleaded not guilty Thursday to a second-degree murder charge, authorities said.
The arraignment of former linebacker Isimemen David Etute was held ahead of a trial scheduled to start May 25 in Montgomery County Circuit Court, The Roanoke Times reported.
Etute is accused in the death of Jerry Smith, 40 in May 2021. Etute said he visited Smith’s apartment that April after he was matched with someone named “Angie” on Tinder, and returned on May 31 to determine whether his match was male or female, attorneys and witnesses said at earlier hearings.
