The daughter of former United States intelligence director John Negroponte has been found guilty for a second time in the fatal stabbing of a friend following a drunken argument in Maryland, prosecutors have announced.
Sophia Negroponte, a 32-year-old from Washington D.C., was convicted of second-degree murder on Thursday for the 2020 killing of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen. The Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office confirmed the verdict, with sentencing scheduled for 19th February where she could face up to 35 years in prison.
Case History and Overturned Conviction
This marks the second time Negroponte has been convicted for Rasmussen's death. She was originally found guilty of second-degree murder in 2023 and sentenced to 35 years in prison, but that conviction was overturned last year after an appeals court ruling.
The Maryland appeals court sent the case back to Montgomery County Circuit Court, determining that the original trial had been flawed. According to news reports, the jury had been improperly allowed to hear contested portions of a police interrogation of Sophia Negroponte and testimony from a prosecution witness that questioned her credibility.
Prominent Family Background
The case has attracted significant attention due to Sophia Negroponte's family connections. She was one of five abandoned or orphaned Honduran children adopted by John Negroponte and his wife during his tenure as U.S. ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s, as reported by The Washington Post.
Her father, John Negroponte, served in multiple high-profile diplomatic roles under the Bush administration. Former President George W. Bush appointed him as the nation's first intelligence director in 2005, and he later served as deputy secretary of state. His distinguished career also included postings as ambassador to Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations, and Iraq.
The retrial concluded with the same outcome as the original proceeding, leaving Sophia Negroponte once again facing the possibility of decades behind bars for the death of her friend during what prosecutors described as an alcohol-fuelled altercation.
