MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. — Editor's Note: The above video originally aired June 2, 2021.
A second-degree murder charge against a Virginia Tech football player has been certified to go to a grand jury, court records show.
18-year-old Isimemen Etute is accused of beating to death a man who he thought was a woman following a match on the dating app Tinder. Etute is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 40-year-old Jerry Smith in Blacksburg.
Etute is currently free on a $75,000 secured bond and is under house arrest and electronic monitoring.
Etute, who was a freshman linebacker at Virginia Tech, has been suspended from the school and its football team during the investigation. Before going to Virginia Tech, Etute graduated from Cox High School in Virginia Beach.