On Friday, the friend of the former Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte’s daughter, was convicted of manslaughter and subsequently sentenced to 35 years in prison. The incident happened in February 2020 at an Airbnb in Rockville, Maryland.
Sophia Negroponte argued with 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen twice that night, and when he returned to her home to retrieve his cell phone, she fatally stabbed him multiple times, prosecutors said.
What happened?
At the age of 83, John Negroponte adopted Sophia as an abandoned child in Honduras. She was one of five children welcomed into the family of the former U.S. ambassador and his wife, Diana.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy stated that Negroponte fatally stabbed Rasmussen during a cellphone retrieval following a dispute.
A witness at the Rockville home told police that Negroponte lunged at Rasmussen with a kitchen knife, targeting his neck area. When Rasmussen tried to protect himself, prosecutors said he was struck and fell to the floor with blood spurting from his neck area.
A judge imposed 35 years in prison for Negroponte Friday, saying her pent-up anger issues, made worse by alcohol, drove her to knifing her friend. Family members described the relationship between Negroponte and Rasmussen as platonic and often playful.
Prosecutors said Negroponte stabbed Rasmussen multiple times
Former United States ambassador to Honduras John Negroponte’s daughter, Sophia Negroponte, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing her longtime friend. Prosecutors say Negroponte stabbed 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen multiple times after they had an argument over a “silly issue” in February 2020.
They were friends, and they went to the same high school, according to prosecutors. They had been drinking together the night of the incident, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said.
She got into a drunken fight with him, which prompted her to stab him. She slashed him multiple times in the neck and was found lying on top of him, yelling “I’m sorry,” charging documents state.
Her lawyer urged jurors to consider her alcohol use disorder, and he emphasized that she was so intoxicated that night that she couldn’t form specific intent. But Negroponte was convicted of second-degree murder, and sentencing guidelines called for a minimum of 15 to 25 years in jail.
Negroponte’s lawyer urged jurors to consider her alcohol use disorder
The daughter of ex-US intelligence chief John Negroponte, Sophia Negroponte, has been sentenced to over 30 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of her friend Yousuf Rasmussen in February 2020.
In sentencing her Friday, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Terrence McGann said that Negroponte’s “pent-up anger issues made worse by alcohol” drove her to knifing Rasmussen in a rage.
During her trial, Negroponte’s lawyer urged jurors to consider her alcohol use disorder. She also argued that her family’s history of adopting five orphaned or abandoned children in Honduras played a significant role in her life.
Negroponte’s mother testified at trial
A judge Friday gave the daughter of former U.S. ambassador John Negroponte 35 years in prison for stabbing her friend to death. The daughter of John Negroponte, the first director of national intelligence, was convicted in January of second-degree murder for the February 2020 killing of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen.
Sophia Negroponte had been adopted by her parents, John and Nancy Negroponte, from an orphanage in Honduras when she was a baby. She was a good friend to Rasmussen, and the two bonded through their shared experiences growing up in loving families.
On the night of the stabbing, Sophia Negroponte and Rasmussen argued, and she stabbed him multiple times, according to charging documents. She also smashed his cell phone in the face, and prosecutors say she poured hot sauce on him as a form of punishment before she stabbed him.
