Ex-Virginia Tech linebacker testifies in fatal beating trial

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) — A former Virginia Tech football player has testified in his own defense at his murder trial in the fatal beating of a Tinder match. Isimemen Etute told the jury he felt “violated” when he discovered that a person he knew as “Angie Renee” was actually a man. The 19-year-old Etute is charged with second-degree murder in the 2021 fatal beating of 40-year-old Jerry Smith. Prosecutors have told the jury that Etute fatally beat Smith when he discovered that Smith was a man. On the witness stand Thursday, Etute claimed Smith reached for what Etute thought was a gun. Prosecutors showed jurors a videotaped interrogation in which the linebacker acknowledged repeatedly hitting and kicking Smith.