The legal strategy is thought to secure more lenient sentences for defendants who claim their violent acts were a response to learning a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity. Danica Roem, D-Prince William. Smith was found dead the next day, having sustained multiple blunt force traumas to his face and head. Supports Anti-Drag Bill But Apparently Once Posed in Drag, Florida Legislator Aims to Expand Dont Say Gay Law, Libs of TikTok's Chaya Raichik Writes Book, Goes on Crazy Promotional Tour, Alleged Pride Flag Arsonist Yells 'Its All Fake' During Hearing, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Support Grant Announced in Kansas, Madonna's Older Brother Anthony Ciccone Is Dead at 66, Marjorie Taylor Greene Wants Divorces? US firms waiting in the wings read to pump 'billions Parents' fury as schools STILL won't tell them if they are closed tomorrow as teacher strikes continue. The defense painted a more complex picture of the case while emphasizing the criminal nature of Smiths conduct. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Jerry was a restaurant manager and known as a polite young man throughout his life. His attorney, Jimmy Turk, told a judge the case was more than someone just showing up to an apartment and punching someone.. Verla Martina Puffenbarger, 80, of Sugar Grove, West Virginia died Saturday, February 25, 2023 at Sentara RMH in Harrisonburg. When do the clocks change in 2023? Facebook gives people the. No cause of death has been released. View the profiles of people named Jerry Paul Smith. He can be reached at mike.gangloff@roanoke.com or (540) 381-1669. Published: 16:38 GMT, 10 June 2021 | Updated: 22:39 GMT, 10 June 2021, Jerry Paul Smith (pictured) was found beaten to death in his own apartment on June 1. The suspended Hokie football player is accused of killing Jerry Paul Smith. Jerry Paul Smith was killed May 31 at his home in Blacksburg, Va. A medical examiner ruled he died of blunt force trauma to the head; an autopsy further revealed that every bone in his face was broken and that he had skull fractures, the Roanoke Times reports. Isimemen Etute claims he "never intended to harm anyone" when he went to the apartment of a woman named Angie with whom he'd had a sexual encounter and discovered he had been intimate with Jerry Paul Smith. A suspended Virginia Tech football player admitted to police that he beat Blacksburg resident Jerry Paul Smith to death after discovering that Smith, whom the defendant met on the dating app Tinder and with whom he agreed to engage in sexual acts, was a man, prosecutors said, citing police statements. It doesn't matter if you're mad. Smith, he testified, chuckled, reaching for Etutes crotch with one hand and down the side of the bed with the other. We've received your submission. Urban decay: There's a reason criminals love Los Angeles's district attorney, Student borrowers advocate Biden debt relief program amid Supreme Court battle, Trump and DeSantis attend dueling Republican conferences as GOP primary field heats up, China will target the US homeland in war over Taiwan, Army leader predicts, Users recoil at new iPhone feature that slows charging when clean energy isn't used. Isimemen Etute, 19, stands accused of the 2021 murder of Jerry Paul Smith, 40, who Etute met under the name "Angie." (Smith's family has identified the victim as a gay man, according to ABC affiliate WSET, and . Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Defense attorney Turk also asked Brunson about a conversation he had with Etute on June 11, two days after his client was bonded out of jail. He excluded a jury instruction on the gay panic defense that was the subject of a law passed by the General Assembly last year. Friends and family for both Etute and victim Jerry Paul Smith filled the . Her body has been cremated. It came out in court Wednesday morning that the victim in last week's homicide, 40-year-old Jerry Paul Smith, and Etute had known each other for a short while. The medical examiner says Smith died from blunt force injuries to the head . Edit: And for more proof that "Angie Renee" and Jerry Smith are the same person, the laptop with the Vineyard Vines sticker on "Angie's . Im trying to stay strong for the people that support me, I feel like Ive let a lot of people down. Who was more likely to be the aggressor? Discovering that Angie was a man provoked Etute to start punching, then stomping Smith, Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jason Morgan said. Born May 18, 1981 in Montgomery County, VA, he was the son of the late Jerry Wayne Smith and Sandra Cumbee Smith. Who would be more likely to resort to violence? Etute then returned to the apartment on May 31 for another meet-up, at which point he discovered the person he had matched up with this time was male, according to Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jason Morgan, citing details the now-suspended linebacker told cops. The order prohibits Etute from going back to Montgomery County except for court proceedings or to consult with his attorney. His body was discovered the following day, and Ismemen David Etute, 18, of Virginia Beach was arrested June 2. He has been a reporter for The Roanoke Times for more than three decades. Smith performed oral sex on Etute on April 10, and Etute returned to the apartment with two of his former teammates in May seeking to determine if Smith was a man or woman. A former Virginia Tech football player accused of killing a man he'd had a sexual encounter with, believing he was a woman, has been acquitted of murder. Stressful start to National Offer Day? Etute, an 18-year-old freshman who enrolled at midyear, was charged last week with killing Jerry Paul Smith, 40, a Blacksburg restaurant worker, in a downtown apartment on Memorial Day. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Isimemen "Isi" David Etute is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Jerry Paul Smith, a restaurant worker. Jerry Paul Smith, 40 known as Gigi by his nephews of Blacksburg, VA departed this life, June 1, 2021, at his home. Listen to the story. It can cover both assaults and murders, and is punishable by 10 years to life in prison. I feel like Ive let a lot of people down. Lisateavet selle kohta, kuidas me teie teavet kasutame, leiate meie privaatsuspoliitikast ja kpsiste kasutamise phimtetest. Turk, who has been practicing law for 36 years and tried more than 70 murder cases, nervously paced the hallways while the jury deliberated for more than three hours. Turks eldest daughter Lindsey, who had never seen her father argue a case, said the closing argument was the best speech she had ever heard. I felt violated, Etute said, of discovering Smiths identity. Etute, then an 18-year-old early enrollee at Virginia Tech, fatally beat Smith on May 31 at the Blacksburg restaurant workers apartment, according to court testimony. Thats just wrong.. It's that the judge would have to instruct the jury to not let that affect their decision," she said. I did prepare him for the worst before today. The Papers Are Already Filed, Queerbaiting, Latine, and WOC Among New Words Added to Dictionary.com, Black Trans & Nonbinary Youth at High Risk of Suicide: Report, What to Know About 2023's HIV is Not a Crime Awareness Day, Kerri Colby Spills on Sasha Colby's Legacy & Kim Petras Making History, Youngkin Latest GOP Gov. The campaign said that since it started tracking such violence in 2013, it has never witnessed so many deaths by this point in the year. In a June 9 hearing, prosecutors said Etute, who was at the time a linebacker on the college's football team, told police he punched Smith several times in the face after learning they were not anatomically female. When the verdict was read to the courtroom, Etutes father, David, collapsed in his seat while his wife Nichelle sobbed. Isimemen David Etute celebrates in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansburg on Friday. Online condolences and [] The defendant told the court he believed he bruised [Smith] up a little but was surprised to learn from police that the victim had died. Etute told prosecutors that after learning Smith was not anatomically female, he beat them. A suspended Virginia Tech Hokie linebacker took the stand in his own defense during his trial for killing a person who he alleges pretended to be a woman during an intimate encounter. Join Facebook to connect with Jerry Paul Smith and others you may know. 69-year-old suffers stroke in his N.C. home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. UPDATE 11:47 a.m.: The second-degree-murder charge against suspended Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute was certified by a Montgomery County judge to a grand jury Thursday morning. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Reactions to the killing of Jerry Paul Smith, a 40-year-old restaurant project manager, grew louder after a Wednesday bond hearing for Isimemen David Etute, 18, of Blacksburg. Honestly, I was destroyed, Etute stated. 'Nobody deserves to die, but I don't mind saying, don't pretend you are something that you are not,' Etute's attorney, James Turk, told reporters outside of court on Wednesday. On Friday, Radford lawyer Jimmy Turk said he is now representing Ismemen David Etute, 18, a Virginia Tech freshman charged with killing Smith. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! VIVID AFFAIRS LLC is a Virginia Domestic Limited-Liability Company filed on October 22, 2020. No one has identified Smith as transgender; his family has said he was a gay man. The 25 points of instruction were read to the jury before closing statements. Jan. 25, 2013), the Government states that this matter remains pre-indictment and is part of ongoing investigation of a possible civil rights violation arising . Thats just wrong.. Court records indicate authorities have reason to believe Smith had been killed Monday night.Etute reportedly, told police he had punched Smith five times in the face and stomped on him after discovering the person he thought was a woman was a man.All the bones in Smiths face were broken, teeth were missing and he suffered cranial fractures, an autopsy report revealed.Nobody deserves to die, but I dont mind saying, dont pretend you are something that you are not, Etutes attorney, James Turk, told reporters outside of court on Wednesday. Former Virginia Tech football player Isimemen David Etute describes an altercation during his murder trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansburg, Va., Thursday, May 26 2022. Etute was charged with second-degree murder June 2 in the death of Blacksburg, Virginia, resident Jerry Smith. Smith was let go recently from the management team at the Black Hen and Bar Blue in Blacksburg. She walked through her family dynamic her sons background, his relationship with his family and their living situation. Jimmy Turk, Etutes attorney, insisted that his client was lured and suggested that there were mitigating circumstances relating to Etute's culpability. With no Virginia [hate] crime for me to even possibly charge, I dont have to make a call on whether it was an anti-gay violence, Pettitt wrote. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Im not in shock because its the right verdict, but always wondering and worrying about whether you convinced 12 people, Turk said. Turk contrasted his client with the victim in stark terms on Friday. It is the right decision and right now Im still just overwhelmed.. Etute also told police that Smith did not fight back, WSLS.comreported. Etute, a freshman on . He punched him at least five more times and stomped on him, Commonwealth Attorneys told the court. Etute testified in court that Smith reached for what he thought was a gun under the mattress, but didnt mention that fact when originally questioned in 2021. But Etute became so agitated that he began punching Smith, according to information presented by Morgan and by defense attorney Jimmy Turk. The gallery reacts at the conclusion of Isimemen David Etute trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansburg on Friday. The Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign says that with the panic defense, a criminal defendant can argue in court that their discovery of the victims sexual orientation or gender identity caused the defendants violent reaction, potentially leading to a reduced charge or sentence. (Matt Gentry/The Roanoke Times via The Associated Press) Reverberations continued to spread Thursday from the Memorial Day killing of a gay Blacksburg man whose alleged attacker, a Hokie linebacker, told police that hed lashed out after discovering the person he met for a sexual encounter was not a woman. He then pulled back his partner's sweatshirt hood, turned on his phones flashlight and discovered his partner had a mans facial hair. Turks family was in attendance for much of the trial, having developed deep ties to the Etute family and Turk's daughter Katie was part of the defense team. Additionally, the sections of the story dealing with the Human Rights Campaign have been clarified to more correctly indicate the source of the information. Jensen relied on his cross-examination of Etute to counter the defenses narrative. Etutes mother spoke to her son's character, telling the court he is not a flight risk and had never been in any trouble,WDBJ7.com reported. There was a problem saving your notification. Etute took the stand on the third day of his trial and gave a play-by-play of what he now says happened the night that Smith died, according to The Roanoke Times. Skeptical of AP African American Studies, Dems Introduce Resolution to Celebrate Black LGBTQ+ Americans, Latinx Trans Woman Killed in Houston in Apparent Murder-Suicide, Longtime Lesbian Activist Achebe Betty Powell Dies at 82. A Montgomery County judge certified on Sept. 23 a charge of second-degree murder of Blacksburg resident Jerry Paul Smith against Isimemen David Etute, suspended Virginia Tech football player. SUSPECT CHARGED WITH MURDER OF YOUNG BOY IN CALIFORNIA ROAD RAGE SHOOTING. Isimemen Etute, 19, stands accused of the 2021 murder of Jerry Paul Smith, 40, who Etute met under the name Angie." Police found Smiths body in his apartment on June 1, and Etute was arrested and charged on June 2. BLACKSBURG, Va. 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