A trial began Wednesday for a former Virginia Tech football player accused in the fatal beating of a Tinder match he originally believed was a woman.
Isimemen Etute, a former linebacker, is charged with second-degree murder in the 2021 death of 40-year-old Jerry Smith. Etute told police he visited Smith’s apartment in April 2021 after he was matched with someone named “Angie” on Tinder. Prosecutors said that when Etute returned on May 31, he became enraged when he discovered his match was a man.
