Virginia Tech football player accused of murder

A Virginia Tech football player was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 40-year-old man in Blacksburg, Va. 

The Blacksburg Police Department said in a statement Wednesday that officers responded to a home in the southwest Virginia city for a welfare check and “located a deceased male victim.”

Investigators ruled the death of Jerry Smith, 40, a homicide, and Virginia Tech university student Isimemen Etute was identified as a person of interest. Etute was later charged with second-degree murder in connection with Smith’s death. The two men were acquaintances, according to police.

Police said that witnesses are cooperating with investigators and that “there is no reason to believe there is any ongoing threat to the public.”

Etute was being held at the Montgomery County Jail without bond. 

Virginia Tech in a statement said that he has been suspended from the school’s football team “effective immediately.” 

“In the case of a felony arrest, the university has the authority to place a student on immediate interim suspension,” the university added, although it did not immediately confirm if the first-year student had been suspended from the school.

“The Virginia Tech and Town of Blacksburg communities are united in our shared concern for the welfare of all,” the university said. “Together, we denounce all acts of violence and stand together in support of one another.”