Jerry Paul Smith was allegedly beaten to death by Isimemen Etute. VIVID AFFAIRS LLC is a Virginia Domestic Limited-Liability Company filed on October 22, 2020. Isimemen Etute faces traffic charges in Radford from the same day that he is accused of killing Jerry Paul Smith in Blacksburg. Smith was discovered dead the following day after his family requested a welfare check. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. Im truly sorry for my actions.. Signs Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth, LGBTQ+ People Take Up Arms as Fears of Right-wing Hate Groups Grow, Tennessee Gov. The most recent instance he cited was in Norfolk in 2011, after 18-year-old Deandre Moore fatally stabbed Jacques Cowell, 20. The defense painted a more complex picture of the case while emphasizing the criminal nature of Smiths conduct. The jury got to hear Etutes description of the events twice during the trial with the prosecution also entering into evidence a 45-minute video of Blacksburg police detectives questioning him June 2. Join Facebook to connect with Jerry Paul Smith and others you may know. It came out in court Wednesday morning that the victim in last week's homicide, 40-year-old Jerry Paul Smith, and Etute had known each other for a short while. Etute was released to his parents shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday. Fleenor asked the prosecution to consider if it would take a brief continuance in order to allow Etutes testimony since excluding a witness testimony was an extraordinary thing to do, but the defense withdrew the request for him to testify after a brief recess. The judge sidestepped the substance of the arguments since the court was only being asked if the defense met what he described as an extraordinarily low standard to allow the jury to consider self-defense. Etute was arrested on June 2 and charged with second-degree murder. The Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign says that with the panic defense, a criminal defendant can argue in court that their discovery of the victims sexual orientation or gender identity caused the defendants violent reaction, potentially leading to a reduced charge or sentence. Virginia Tech freshman football player Isimemen Etute was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Wednesday. Etute, then an 18-year-old early enrollee at Virginia Tech, fatally beat Smith on May 31 at the Blacksburg restaurant workers apartment, according to court testimony. But Etute became so agitated that he began punching Smith, according to information presented by Morgan and by defense attorney Jimmy Turk. After a near-anonymous sexual encounter with Angie and her apartment on April 10, 2021 during which Etute allegedly told detectives she kept her place dark, hid her face with a hoodie and paid him $50 after performing oral sex on him, according to ABC affiliate WJLA Etute allegedly said he began to suspect Angie was not a woman. In anobituary, Smiths family remembered restaurant manager whose nephews nicknamed Gigi as a polite young man throughout his life. Thats just wrong., Etute said during the hearing that the situation has been real hard for him, adding, Im trying to stay strong for the people that support me. The defendant told the court he believed he bruised [Smith] up a little but was surprised to learn from police that the victim had died. Isimemen David Etute appeared in a Montgomery County, Virginia court Wednesday, charged with second-degree murder in the death of Jerry Paul Smith Etute was arrested on June 2 and charged in the death of Blacksburg, Va., 40-year-old restaurant manager Jerry Smith after allegedly punching and stomping the 40-year-old multiple times on May 31 Etute told police he thought he was meeting a woman named Angie with whom hed connected on Tinder, and whom hed met for oral sex on April 10. . Isimemen David Etute, left, listens to his defense team in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansbur on Friday. Etute then returned to the apartment on May 31 for another meet-up, at which point he discovered the person he had matched up with this time was male, according to Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jason Morgan, citing details the now-suspended linebacker told cops. Ex-Virginia Tech linebacker Isi Etute pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the killing of Jerry Smith, whom Etute met on Tinder as "Angie." Zara's husband announces a two-month tour with his rugby podcast 'We met a Princess'! Mary Pettitt, the Montgomery County commonwealths attorney who is pursuing the second-degree murder charge, wrote in an email that Virginia law has a hate crime enhancement statute for assault and battery but not for murder. The 19-year-old is accused of fatally beating Jerry Paul Smith, 40, after the two met on Tinder in May 2021. He referred to Smith as a deceitful and dishonest man who defrauded young men for his own sexual gratification., Who is the real victim here? Turk said through tears. All of the bones in Smiths face were broken, his teeth were knocked out, and he had cranial fractures, Morgan said. The beating that ensued broke all the bones in Smith's face and left the victim with cranial fractures and missing teeth, according to the autopsy. The linebackers team profile was not active Thursday. Although Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jason Morgan initially urged Duncan not to grant bail, the prosecution and defense later came to an agreement to release Etute on a $75,000 bond under both house arrest and electronic monitoring. There is unfortunately a long history of framing transgender people as inherently deceptive or untruthful about their identities. Jerry was a restaurant manager and known as a polite young man throughout his life. Etute said that he accompanied Angie to the darkened bedroom and, after a period of time, asked to have sexual intercourse. (Smith's family has identified the victim as a gay man, according to ABC affiliate WSET, and Smith is not listed on the Human Rights Campaign's compendium of transgender and non-conforming people killed in 2021.). Virginia Tech freshman Ismemen David Etute, 18, who was a linebacker on the football team, was arrested Wednesday . A former Virginia Tech football player accused of killing a man he'd had a sexual encounter with, believing he was a woman, has been acquitted of murder. Etute was charged with second-degree murder June 2 in the death of Blacksburg, Virginia, resident Jerry Smith. Im not sure what the evidence is in this case beyond news reports, though that is what the federal investigators would be looking for, he wrote. Smith's body was discovered in his apartment the following day, Blacksburg Police said in arelease. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. It can cover both assaults and murders, and is punishable by 10 years to life in prison. Former Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute and his family have issued a statement to The Roanoke Times, Etute wasacquitted on second. Mike Gangloff covers crime, breaking news and courts in the New River Valley. Etute, a freshman on . Turk was able to get the lead detective on the case, Ryan Hite, to tell the jury on Thursday during cross-examination that he would have referred Smiths actions in this case obtaining sex through false pretenses to the commonwealths attorney had he known about them. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. The suspended Hokie football player is accused of killing Jerry Paul Smith. Its also a reminder to my legislative colleagues who tried to grill me about whether we really needed to ban the LGBTQ panic defense that, yes, we did.. The 18-year-old linebacker heard bubbling and gurgling coming from Smith as he left the apartment, but didnt call the police, the Commonwealth Attorney added. UPDATE 11:47 a.m.: The second-degree-murder charge against suspended Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute was certified by a Montgomery County judge to a grand jury Thursday morning. I was just in shock, in disbelief that someone tricked me and lied to me.. Etute appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Sept. 23 in connection with the death of 40-year-old Jerry Paul Smith of Blacksburg on May 31. As this case unfolds, I hope that people will realize that transgender men, women, and non-binary people are on Tinder and have a right to be there, and that presenting oneself as any gender online is not the same thing as catfishing. Tharp testified that most of the bones in Smiths face were broken, he had bleeding and swelling inside his brain and he had multiple teeth knocked out. Who would be more likely to resort to violence? Etute, an 18-year-old freshman who enrolled at midyear, was charged last week with killing Jerry Paul Smith, 40, a Blacksburg restaurant worker, in a downtown apartment on Memorial Day. ROANOKE REGIONAL RESTAURANT GROUP LLC is a Virginia Domestic Limited-Liability Company filed on May 5, 2021. If you find this was in the heat of passion, you shouldnt find him guilty of second degree murder, the crime would be voluntary manslaughter, but what Im telling you is this was not self-defense, Jensen said. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Powerful Commons committee could look at case for banning stoves in towns and Bird flu HAS mutated to infect people: Fresh pandemic fears as scientists on ground zero in Cambodia find China hits back at FBI claim that Wuhan lab leak likely caused global COVID outbreak - still no consensus Morbidly obese girl who died during lockdown begged her mother to clean her 'leaking legs' in Psychiatrist: What most women don't know about their hormones - and why you start drinking and smoking more Shamima Begum and other British women who joined Islamic State and are being held in Syria will 'ultimately' Don't just stick to the Malbec! 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