Bush king’s daughter sentenced to 35 years for stabbing to death in Maryland
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The stepdaughter of former President George W. Bush, Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for stabbing her friend to death after a drunken argument at a Maryland Airbnb six years ago.
Sophia Negroponte, 33, was sentenced Friday by Montgomery County District Court Judge Terrence McGann after being found guilty in November of second-degree murder in the death of Yousuf Rasmussen, 24. It was a retrial after a similar conviction in 2023.
“The 35-year sentence is equivalent to the sentence imposed following the first trial in 2023,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy told The Associated Press. “This is an appropriate and just result given the seriousness of this crime and the common finding of two separate judges who carefully analyzed the evidence.”
Sophia Negroponte, left, was convicted of second-degree murder in the stabbing of high school classmate Yousuf Rasmussen, right, in February 2020. On Friday, Negroponte was sentenced to 35 years in prison for murder. (Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office)
Negroponte was convicted of second-degree murder in 2023 and received the same 35-year sentence, but in January 2024, a Maryland appeals court overturned that sentence, requesting a new trial in district court.
An appeals court ordered a new trial after jurors improperly heard parts of the police investigation and testimony that cast doubt on Negroponte’s credibility.
Sophia Negroponte was one of five abandoned or orphaned Honduran children John Negroponte and his wife, Diana, adopted after Negroponte was appointed US ambassador to the Central American country in the 1980s, according to the Washington Post.
Sophia Negroponte and Rasmussen attended the same Washington school and had been drinking, along with another person, the night Rasmussen was killed, McCarthy previously said. They argued twice that night, and Rasmussen left the home.
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Ambassador John Negroponte, vice chairman of McLarty Associates, speaks on stage during the 2022 Concordia Lexington Conference at the Lexington Marriott City Center on April 8, 2022, in Lexington, Kentucky. (John Negroponte)
When Rasmussen returned to retrieve his cell phone, Negroponte “stabbed him multiple times, one of which was fatal and severed his collarbone,” McCarthy said.
A 911 call prompted county and city officials and firefighters in Rockville, Maryland, to respond to an Airbnb property on Feb. 13, 2020, at approximately 11:16 pm Negroponte, then 27 years old, was found in the house covered in blood and lying on top of Rasmussen, shouting, “I’m sorry,” according to Fox News.
Rasmussen was pronounced dead at the scene and Negroponte was taken into custody, where he is said to have told investigators that he does not remember attacking the man but remembers that they were fighting over a “crazy issue” and he pulled a knife from his neck.
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Negroponte and former President George W. Bush in February 2005 in Washington, DC (Charles Ommanney/Getty Images)
President George W. Bush appointed John Negroponte as the first director of national intelligence in 2005 following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He later served as Deputy Secretary of State. He has served as ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations and Iraq.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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