Ex-College Football Star Is Acquitted Of Murdering Trans Posing As A Woman He Met For A Hookup

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. -- Former Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute was found not guilty of all charges Friday in the beating death of a Blacksburg resident following an online catfishing scheme.

Etute, a Virginia Tech freshman linebacker at the time of the incident in May 2021, had been charged with second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of five to 40 years, and the jury could have convicted him on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Instead, the jury believed a self-defense argument that Etute feared for his life after seeing the victim "make a reach" toward his bed where a knife was later found.

Etute collapsed in tears as the verdict was read, with cheers erupting from a contingent of about 30 family members, supporters and former teammates.

Etute was arrested June 2, 2021, and charged with the May 31 murder of Jerry Smith, a local Blacksburg man who had posed as a woman online to meet straight, college-aged men.

According to testimony, Etute first connected with Smith in April 2021 on the dating app Tinder, with Smith posing as a woman going by the name "Angie Renee." Along with teammate Da'Shawn Elder, Etute went to Smith's Blacksburg apartment on April 10 under the assumption that he was meeting a woman. Elder testified that he was disturbed by the circumstances of the meeting, in which Smith hid his face and kept his apartment nearly pitch dark. Both players initially left, but Etute returned to the apartment and testified that he received oral sex and a $50 gift from Smith.

Etute testified that he left the April 10 encounter still believing Smith was a woman, but teammates later began teasing him that his sexual partner could have been a man.