Law banning «gay panic» defence tested as former Tech football player goes to trial in slaying

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.

Attorneys said Isimemen Etute matched with Jerry Paul Smith on Tinder, which led to a sexual encounter in April 2021. Etute told prosecutors that after learning Smith was not anatomically female, he beat them. Etute, who was 18 at the time, was later arrested and suspended from the Virginia Tech American football team.

Smith used the name Angie Renee when meeting up with Etute, according to reporting from The Roanoke Times. But without a declaration from the deceased regarding their pronouns, preferred name or gender identity, VPM News will refer to the victim as Smith.

Etute pleaded not guilty to the murder during his arraignment last week in Christiansburg. His attorney claimed Etute acted in self-defence, saying Smith had a knife nearby at the time of the altercation. The defence pointed out that Smith had a pattern of deceiving men in an effort to meet for sex, VPM News reports.

Former Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute was acquitted on Friday on charges of beating Smith to death, who he claimed had posed as a woman on Tinder, starobserver.com.au reports.