A 19-year-old former Virginia Tech football player has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in the death of 40-year-old Jerry Paul Smith. The attorneys then reached a compromise under which Etute was released on a secured $75,000 bond and will be under house arrest and electronic monitoring, according to the Times. 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. According to the autopsy, all the bones in Blacksburg resident Jerry Paul Smith's face were broken, his teeth were missing and he had multiple cranial fractures. Additionally, the sections of the story dealing with the Human Rights Campaign have been clarified to more correctly indicate the source of the information. Etute had entered Virginia Tech at midterm and participated in training with the football team. Isimemen Etute, 19, stands accused of the 2021 murder of Jerry Paul Smith, 40, who Etute met under the name "Angie." (Smith's family has identified the victim . 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. The prosecution objected on the grounds that a reach the defense alleged that Smith reached under his bed where a knife was later found by police didnt constitute the necessary overt act for self-defense. CHRISTIANSBURG Former Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute was found not guilty Friday in the beating death of Jerry Paul Smith following a three-day trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Etute then claimed he got up, stood next to the bed and asked Smith "Why didnt you tell me?" Danica Roem, D-Prince William, holds that another persons actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation is not in and of itself a defense to any charge of capital murder, murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, voluntary manslaughter, or assault and bodily wounding-related crimes and is not provocation negating or excluding malice as an element of murder.. . Police found Smiths body in his apartment on June 1, and Etute was arrested and charged on June 2. Jerry Paul Smith was killed May 31 at his home in Blacksburg, Va. A medical examiner ruled he died of blunt force trauma to the head; an autopsy further revealed that every bone in his face was broken and that he had skull fractures, the Roanoke Times reports. He returned to Smith's apartment May 31, realized Smith was a man, and flew into a rage. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, Jerry Paul Smith after allegedly punching. 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. The violence struck close to home, said Jim Best, regional coordinator for the Floyd chapter of PFLAG, one of the oldest and largest organizations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people and their families. Isimemen Etute, 19, stands accused of the 2021 murder of Jerry Paul Smith, 40, who Etute met under the name Angie." But the reality is that trans people often conceal parts of themselves expressly to avoid the violence, harassment, and discrimination that is so often directed against us, Rosenthal continued. The trial took . Defense attorney Turk also asked Brunson about a conversation he had with Etute on June 11, two days after his client was bonded out of jail. Fleenor said the instruction would have applied in this case, but the law wasnt in place until July 1 and didnt apply retroactively. In a June 9 hearing, prosecutors said Etute, who was at the time a linebacker on the college's football team, told police he punched Smith several times in the face after learning they were not anatomically female. He took the guys hoodie, they looked at each other and the guy reached for him and he swung at him, Brunson said. Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute, 19, was found not guilty on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Jerry Paul Smith, 40, after the jury deliberated for three hours. Born May 18, 1981 in Montgomery County, VA, he was the son of the late Jerry Wayne Smith and Sandra Cumbee Smith. He is to be under house arrest in their custody in Williamsburg. The prosecution maintained it was a straightforward case to the jury throughout the trial with crime scene photos jurors saw multiple photos of Smiths dead body lying at the foot of his bed including close ups of his bloody face as well as details from Smiths autopsy that highlighted what a one-sided assault it was. He was having sexual relations with a 40 year old person known as either Jerry Smith or Angie Smith. John Smith brother of Jerry Paul Smith testified from the witness stand in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansburg, Va., Wednesday, May 25, 2022. She walked through her family dynamic her sons background, his relationship with his family and their living situation. View the profiles of people named 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 best insights from the ultimate insiders. A man he met on Tinder is charged with second-degree murder. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Prince Harry boasts about finding 'freedom and happiness' and jokes about reincarnation in unseen TV Behind-the-scenes at fashion week with the Spencers! Her body has been cremated. Isimemen David Etute, left, listens to his defense team in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansbur on Friday. Jurors were told Etute killed Jerry Paul Smith in self-defense . Family handout Etute, who will stay with his parents in Virginia Beach, is due back in court on Sept. 23, WJZY reported . Smith was let go recently from the management team at the Black Hen and Bar Blue in Blacksburg. His family asked that donations be sent in Jerry's honor to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in lieu of flowers. He knew that worst case scenario he could have been looking at five to 40 years in the penitentiary on a second-degree murder conviction. [3] 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. Smith would go as a man (Jerry Smith) in most contexts but would go as a woman (Angie Smith) on Tinder and when having sex with people. Smith's body was discovered in his apartment the following day, Blacksburg Police said in arelease. The offender clearly consented to this and could have made a decision to leave and instead of leaving, made a decision to kill someone.. Then jurors will decide whether or not Etute is guilty of second-degree murder. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Posted on June 10, 2021 by konniemoments in Assault, Crime, Homicide, News // 1 Comment. He has a motive for changing what he said, Jensen said. There just needs to be a scintilla, and there may be all there is in this case, its not that much, Fleenor said, in siding with the defense. Killing of Jerry Paul Smith called 'irrational,' Isi Etute defense called discriminatory. Verla Martina Puffenbarger, 80, of Sugar Grove, West Virginia died Saturday, February 25, 2023 at Sentara RMH in Harrisonburg. Published: 16:38 GMT, 10 June 2021 | Updated: 22:39 GMT, 10 June 2021, Jerry Paul Smith (pictured) was found beaten to death in his own apartment on June 1. Duncan then said that he saw no evidence that Etute posed a danger to the community and allowed him to leave jail until his trial, after posting a $75,000 bond. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. We've received your submission. In the aftermath of Virginia Tech linebacker Isi Etute's arrest and second-degree murder charge, authorities have now revealed the official cause of death for Jerry Paul Smith, the 40-year-old . Isimemen Etute faces traffic charges in Radford from the same day that he is accused of killing Jerry Paul Smith in Blacksburg. His attorney, Jimmy Turk, told a judge the case was more than someone just showing up to an apartment and punching someone.. You have permission to edit this article. 'Nobody deserves to die, but I don't mind saying, don't pretend you are something that you are not,' Etute's attorney, James Turk, told reporters outside of court on Wednesday. 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. The victim, he testified, partially undressed and assumed a position on all fours on the bed, exposing the buttocks. With no Virginia [hate] crime for me to even possibly charge, I dont have to make a call on whether it was an anti-gay violence, Pettitt wrote. Im not saying what happened was acceptable, but this was more than someone just showing up to an apartment and punching someone, Turk reportedly said during the hearing. Jurors will be tasked with deciding whether or not the defendant acted in self-defense, as he doesn't deny killing Smith. Some said the details that emerged from Wednesdays bond hearing show that Smiths killing was motivated by a bias against gays. I felt violated, Etute said, of discovering Smiths identity. A Montgomery County judge certified on Sept. 23 a charge of second-degree murder of Blacksburg resident Jerry Paul Smith against Isimemen David Etute, suspended Virginia Tech football player. 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. Reverberations continued to spread Thursday from the Memorial Day killing of a gay Blacksburg man whose alleged attacker, a Hokie linebacker, told police that hed lashed out after discovering the person he met for a sexual encounter was not a woman. An autopsy report revealed Smith died from blunt force trauma to the head, theRichmond-Times Dispatchreported.All the bones in Smiths face were broken and his teeth were missing, the report said. A suspended Virginia Tech football player admitted to police that he beat Blacksburg resident Jerry Paul Smith to death after discovering that Smith, whom the defendant met on the dating app . Jan. 25, 2013), the Government states that this matter remains pre-indictment and is part of ongoing investigation of a possible civil rights violation arising . Theyd look to his statements about this incident, other comments he may have made about sexual orientation or other manifestations of bias that would prove that his violence against this victim was motivated by such bias rather than some other issue, Heaphy wrote in an email. Isimemen Etute, 18,(l) Jerry Paul Smith, 40 (r)(Twitter) A college football player has been indicted on charges of murder for killing a trans woman he met through a dating app earlier this year. In his opening statements on Wednesday, Defense attorney Jimmy Turk said his client beat Smith because it was the only thing reasonably could do to ensure he got out of Jerry Smiths apartment alive.. Urban decay: There's a reason criminals love Los Angeles's district attorney, Student borrowers advocate Biden debt relief program amid Supreme Court battle, Trump and DeSantis attend dueling Republican conferences as GOP primary field heats up, China will target the US homeland in war over Taiwan, Army leader predicts, Users recoil at new iPhone feature that slows charging when clean energy isn't used. Etute, a member of Virginia Tech's 2021 recruiting class, was suspended from the team after he was charged. He then allegedly admitted to detectives that he punched Smith five times, possibly kicked his victim in the face and ran out to sounds of "bubbling and gurgling," according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Turks remarks prompted waves of comments online and elsewhere. Czernicki testified that Smith coughed up the blood all over the closet door after falling to the ground. 'Don't target or lure anyone under that perception. Dont target or lure anyone under that perception. Etute was arrested on June 2 and charged with second-degree murder.He was released on $75,000 bond on Wednesday and is to remain under house arrest and electronic monitoring. CASEY: Some head-turning words by Rep. 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