A now suspended Virginia Tech football player revealed to police he punched a sexual partner several times in the faceand stomped on him after discovering the person he thought was a woman was actually a man, according to arguments presented Wednesday in a Montgomery County courtroom, via Richmond.com.
The autopsy would reveal that all the bones in Blacksburg resident Jerry Paul Smith’s face were broken, his teeth were missing and he had multiple cranial fractures. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head.
Ismemen David Etute was arrested and charged with second-degree murder June 2nd. The 18-year-old will be under house arrest for the time being, with electronic monitoring gear, allowed to leave home for court appearances.
Etute and Smith had matched on the dating site Tinder, but Smith’s Tinder profile indicated he was a woman named Angie. The two would soon meet April 10 for oral sex, and Etute didn’t realize Smith was a man until they met again May 31.
Etute told the police he punched the victim five times in the face and continued punching them when the person hit the ground and “stomped” on them. He heard “bubbling and gurgling” as he left the apartment, but didn’t call the police.
Etute graduated high school early to start at Virginia Tech in January. During the investigation, Etute is on suspension from Virginia Tech and its football team.
