ROCKVILLE, Md. — A stiff sentence Friday for Sophia Negroponte, 30, daughter of the first U.S. director of national intelligence.
A Montgomery County judge gave her 35 years in prison – well above the sentencing guidelines – in the stabbing murder of Yousuf Rasmussen, 24, who she often called her best friend.
The lives of victim and killer mirrored each other in many ways. Both were malnourished babies, adopted by loving, prosperous families from orphanages in Pakistan and Honduras.
But while Yousuf Rasmussen thrived and seemed to make friends with everyone, Sophia Negroponte sunk into alcoholism and rage.
Their friendship ended in a Rockville carriage house. They’d argued. "She grabs a knife from the drawer, the kitchen drawer," said the third man who was there that night on video from a police bodycam that was played at the trial.
Rasmussen, who had a job interview that coming Monday, had left the get together, but then came back because he’d forgotten his phone.
Sophia Negroponte spoke in the third person as she described to 911 what she’d done. “There was an altercation and someone was cut and they’re having an issue here,” she says in a recording of the call played in court. “Someone was cut?” the operator asks. “Please send help right away,” Negroponte responds.
“Yousuf was just trying to find his phone and go home,” said John McCarthy, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney after the sentencing.
Jurors convicted Negroponte of second degree murder, not the first degree murder count that prosecutors had charged her with.
She’d testified it was an accident. That she never intended to kill him.
"Preparing yourself with a knife and stabbing someone in the neck is not an accident," McCarthy responded.
Rasmussen’s family and friends crowded the courtroom, remembering his joyful life, loyalty, and helping hand as they described the impact of his murder to Judge Terrence McGann. "We came here because we all cared about Yousuf," said his father, Stephen Rasmussen after the hearing.
"He was a beautiful person," Sophia Negroponte told the judge as she addressed the court. "I'm ashamed of my actions that night, and I am truly sorry," she said.
John Negroponte, the killer’s father, and a former UN Ambassador and Director of National Intelligence left without talking to reporters after the judge sentenced Sophia Negroponte to 35 years, just five years shy of the maximum, and well above the sentencing guidelines.
He called her a deceptive, anger-filled alcoholic, citing some of her statements when police questioned her right after the stabbing. "What? What? I didn't do anything... I didn't f'ing stab the dude," she told and officer. "I don't know how the knife got in Yousef's throat."
Negroponte will someday get out of prison, Judge McGann said. But he says Yousuf Rasmussen will never again see a sunset, swim in the ocean, or hug his mother and father.
Sophia Negroponte was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen in January of 2023.
On Feb. 13, 2020, police were called to the 400 block of West Montgomery Avenue just after 11:15 p.m. for reports of a stabbing. When officers arrived, they found Rasmussen with stab wounds. He later died from his injuries.
Police took Negroponte into custody that same night. Investigators believe Rasmussen and Negroponte got into a fight the night that he was killed. A witness told police in 2020 that the two appeared to have been drinking when they arrived and later began bickering.
According to court documents from 2020, officers claim they found Negroponte laying on top of Rasmussen yelling "I'm sorry" while covered in blood.
A witness told officers in 2020 that he watched Negroponte grab a kitchen knife and lunge at Rasmussen. Negroponte later told police she only remembered removing a knife from the victim and yelling for him not to die.
Following the murder, Rasmussen's college friend, Austin Pillado, said he could not believe the news.
"It's kind of hard to wrap my head around it for sure," said Pillado, who said the two met at Davis and Elkins College during his freshman year. He remembered him as living selflessly.
"He was a really quirky dude, always kind of smiling," said Pillado. "It was pretty much impossible to not smile around him or be mad with him at all. He wanted nothing but the best for himself but also more for others."
In a statement released to the media, the Rasmussen family gave thanks to the first responders and Maryland officials who tried to save him on that night in 2020.
"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. We will carry him with us forever," the family said.
Negroponte has been identified as the daughter of former U.S. intelligence director John Negroponte. Sophia Negroponte was one of five abandoned or orphaned Honduran children that John Negroponte and his wife adopted decades ago.