A former Virginia Tech football player has been found not guilty of beating a man to death after claiming the Tinder hook-up had lied about being a woman then performed oral sex on him
. After a three-day trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court the jury took just three hours before finding, 19, not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2021 death of Jerry Smith, 40, of Blacksburg, Virginia. Etute said he believed he was receiving oral sex from a woman named ‘Angie’ but it was actually Smith. He said Smith paid him $50 and that he later returned to the man’s apartment to find out if Smith really was a woman.
When he discovered Smith’s identity he became enraged. In his testimony he said he thought Smith was reaching for a gun and so he punched him five times and kicked him to give him a chance to escape the apartment. Police reported finding a knife under Smith’s mattress but prosecutor Patrick Jensen said Smith was in no position to reach it. Jensen said Etute heard “bubbling and gurgling” coming from Smith but did not call the police.