CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) A former Virginia Tech football player took the stand in his own defense at his murder trial Thursday, testifying that he felt "violated" when he discovered that a Tinder match he believed was a woman was actually a man.

Isimemen Etute, 19, is charged with second-degree murder in the 2021 fatal beating of Jerry Smith, 40, of Blacksburg.

Prosecutors have told the jury that Etute, then 18, became enraged and fatally beat Smith when he discovered that Smith was a man.