Blacksburg police have charged linebacker Isi Etute, a freshmen football player at Virginia Tech, with second-degree murder. Etute had a preliminary hearing Thursday morning by video in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Police were called to an apartment near the 115 block of North Main Street Tuesday for a welfare check on a person who lived there, 40-year-old Jerry Smith. He was dead at the scene. The early investigation pointed to homicide and Etute as a person of interest in the case. He was a Hokie linebacker (6-2, 235 lbs.) from Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach.
Etute had enrolled early this year at Virginia Tech after his senior football season had been cancelled because of COVID-19. Coming out of high school, he had been heavily recruited by Tech, N.C. State, West Virginia, James Madison, and others.
Police say Etute and the victim were acquaintances but a motive for the killing has not been determined. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Virginia Tech wasted little time after the player’s arrest in suspending him from both the team and university.
In a statement, the university said, “The Virginia Tech and Town of Blacksburg communities are united in our shared concern for the welfare of all. Together, we denounce all acts of violence and stand together in support of one another.”
Also on Tuesday, the FBI joined in the investigation.
Anyone with information related to this case is asked to contact Lt. Josh Teubert of the Blacksburg Police Department at 540-443-1424
