Former Virginia Tech football player Isimemen Etute was found not guilty of all charges Friday in the beating death of a Blacksburg resident following an online catfishing scheme.
Etute, a Virginia Tech freshman linebacker at the time of the incident in May 2021, had been charged with second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of five to 40 years, and the jury could have convicted him on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. Instead, the jury believed a self-defense argument that Etute feared for his life after seeing the victim "make a reach" toward his bed where a knife was later found.