Sophia Negroponte, 29, jailed for 35 years after stabbing friend in the neck in Maryland Airbnb
The daughter of the former US Director of National Intelligence has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after ‘anger drove her’ to stab her ‘best friend’ to death in a Maryland Airbnb.
Sophia Negroponte, 29, was convicted of second-degree murder in January for killing 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen in February 2020.
She stabbed him multiple times and fatally struck him in the neck when he returned to get his cell phone after an argument between the couple.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Terrence J. McGann ordered her to serve 35 years behind bars Friday, saying her pent-up anger issues, made worse by alcohol, led her to stab her friend.
She is the daughter of John Negroponte, who spent a long career in Washington as a diplomat before being named the first US Director of National Intelligence in 2005.
A Montgomery County jury on Tuesday convicted 29-year-old Sophia Negroponte (pictured left) of second-degree murder in the February 2020 death of Yousuf Rasmussen (pictured right), they reported. the media.
Before her sentencing, McGann said: “Rage drove Ms Negroponte to stab her friend in the neck.”
Sophia Negroponte and Rasmussen attended the same Washington high school and had been drinking at a Maryland Airbnb, along with another person, the night Rasmussen was killed, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said.
They argued twice that night and Rasmussen left. When Rasmussen returned to get his cell phone, Negroponte “stabbed him multiple times, one of which was a fatal blow that severed his jugular,” McCarthy said.
Police said that when they arrived, Negroponte was on top of Rasmussen yelling: “I’m sorry.” During the investigation, Negroponte told police that he only remembers removing the knife from Rasmussen’s neck.
Defense attorney David Moyse had urged jurors to consider that Sophia Negroponte was so intoxicated that night that she could not have had a specific intent.
Alcohol permeates this case from the start; it pervades her life,’ he said, adding, ‘and is absolutely at the heart of what happened there that night. And it’s one of the main reasons why this isn’t murder at all.
Jurors found Negroponte guilty of the most serious charge he faced, first-degree premeditated murder, according to the post.
But they convicted her of second-degree murder, finding that she had intended to “inflict such serious bodily harm” on Rasmussen “that death would likely result.”
Judge McGann ordered his bail revoked, noting that Rasmussen was “torn from this earth, at a very young age with his whole life ahead of him, in such a horrific way.”
Sophia Negroponte and Rasmussen attended the same Washington high school and had been drinking, along with another person, the night Rasmussen was killed, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said.
Police say Sophia Negroponte stabbed Rasmussen after an argument in February 2020
Sophia Negroponte is the adopted daughter of John Negroponte, who spent a long career in Washington as a diplomat before being named the United States’ first Director of National Intelligence in 2005. He is seen at a conference in Colombia in 2019.
“Yousuf was a kind and gentle soul, a loving person who brought our family and his many friends great joy in his 24 years of life,” Rasmussen’s family said in a statement. We will carry it with us forever.
After the verdict, John Negroponte, 83, said his family will discuss a possible appeal with his lawyers.
Neither the prosecutors nor perhaps the jury gave sufficient consideration to the complexities and extenuating circumstances of the case: Sophia’s past trauma and other factors that led to a very troubled existence. She has had severe alcohol use disorder,” John Negroponte said.
President George W. Bush named John Negroponte the nation’s first director of intelligence in 2005. He later served as assistant secretary of state. He also previously served as ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations, and Iraq.
He had previously served as ambassador to countries including Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines under Bill Clinton, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan.
Negroponte and his wife, Diana Negroponte, adopted five girls during their stay in Honduras: Sophia, George, John, Alexandra, and Marina.
President Bush, left, watches as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, ceremonially swears in Assistant Secretary of State John Negroponte, second left, at the State Department in Washington in 2007
After the verdict, John Negroponte said his family will discuss a possible appeal with his lawyers.