Sophia Negroponte: Ex-DNI's daughter stabbed friend to death in drunken rage, faces 40 years in prison
MONTOGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND: The daughter of George W Bush's National Intelligence Director has been convicted of second-degree murder of a friend. On Tuesday, January 3, at Montgomery County Circuit Court, Sophia Negroponte was found guilty of killing Yousuf Rasmussen in February 2020.
After the conviction, it has been said that the 29-year-old woman could face up to four decades in jail. As per reports, John Negroponte is the father of Sophia. The 83-year-old had served Bush’s tenure as the Director of National Intelligence before becoming deputy secretary of state. John had also worked as an ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations, and Iraq.
ALSO READ
Bryan Kohberger: Internet sleuths debate whether Idaho murders suspect is INTJ personality type
It has been said that Sophia and the Maryland victim had been friends for years as they both went to the same Washington high school. On the fateful night, the duo was enjoying and drinking at an apartment with a third person before Sophia murdered Rasmussen. Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy reportedly told the court that Sophia and her friend fought over some issue before the latter left. However, when Rasmussen came back to take his phone, the woman lost it and started stabbing him.
Alcohol was the real culprit
The vicious attack severely wounded Rasmussen’s jugular, which reportedly resulted in his death. It has been revealed that when cops reached the scene, Sophia was sitting on top of the man’s body while crying, “Breathe! Breathe! Yousuf, breathe! I’m so sorry," The Washington Post reported
Initially, she was charged with first-degree, premeditated murder but the jurors did not convict her for that after defense attorney David Moyse reportedly asserted, “Alcohol pervades this case from the start; it pervades her life and it is absolutely at the heart of what happened there that night. And it´s one of the major reasons that this is absolutely not a murder.”
Did Justice prevail?
But the jury mentioned Sophia “acted with extreme disregard of the life-endangering consequences.” Also, Judge Terrence J McGann annulled the murderer’s bond while stating that Rasmussen was “taken from this earth, at a very young age with his whole life ahead of him, in such a horrific way.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Fenton shared with the jurors that Sophia’s “hand was on that knife when it was plunged into his face, and cut across his throat, and plunged into his neck, where the blood came down and he collapsed almost immediately,” before adding, “Regret afterwards does not change her proven intent at the time the murder was committed.”
The Tuesday verdict seemingly soothed Rasmussen’s family wound as in a statement, they noted, “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.” But the Negropontes were clearly not satisfied as John Negroponte said, “Neither the prosecutors nor perhaps the jury took into sufficient consideration the complexities and mitigating circumstances of the case — Sophia’s past trauma and other factors that led to a very troubled existence. She’s had severe alcohol use disorder.”