Sophia Negroponte, daughter of the first U.S. director of national intelligence, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the second-degree murder of her longtime friend Yousuf Rasmussen. The stabbing occurred during a drunken argument in a Rockville, Maryland, Airbnb in February 2020. This marks the second conviction for the crime after the first was overturned on appeal.
Sophia Negroponte, 33, was convicted in November 2025 of second-degree murder for killing 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen. The incident took place on February 2020 in a carriage house on West Montgomery Avenue in Rockville, a suburb north of Washington, D.C. Negroponte and Rasmussen, who had been friends since high school, were drinking with another friend that evening when an argument escalated.
According to prosecutors, the two had argued verbally twice before Rasmussen attempted to leave but returned for his cellphone. At that point, Negroponte armed herself with a knife and stabbed him multiple times, including a fatal blow that severed his jugular. Body camera footage from responding officers captured a male witness describing the events: anger and punches led to Negroponte grabbing a knife from a drawer and striking Rasmussen in the neck during a scuffle.
This was Negroponte's second trial for the case. She was first convicted in January 2023 and sentenced to 35 years in March 2023, but a Maryland appeals court overturned the verdict in January 2024. The court ruled that the trial erred by admitting statements from police interrogations and expert testimony that opined on Negroponte's credibility, such as detectives calling her account 'odd' and 'hard to believe,' and a forensic psychiatrist noting she had incentive to embellish due to her status as a defendant.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Terrence McGann imposed the same 35-year sentence on Friday following the retrial. State's Attorney John McCarthy stated, "The 35-year sentence mirrors the sentence imposed following the first trial in 2023. This is an appropriate and just outcome in light of the seriousness of this crime and the consistent findings of two separate juries who carefully evaluated the evidence."
Rasmussen's family described him as "a kind and gentle soul, a loving person who brought our family and his many friends great joy in his 24 years of life." Negroponte is one of five children adopted by John and Diana Negroponte; her father served as the first U.S. director of national intelligence after 9/11 and held various ambassadorial roles under George W. Bush.
