Jurors were privy to a haunting video depicting the aftermath of a young man’s fatal stabbing at the hands of a top former intelligence official’s daughter.
Sophia Negroponte was convicted of murder Tuesday in a Montgomery County, Maryland, courtroom, The Washington Post reported.
The 29-year-old woman is the daughter of John Negroponte, who served under President George W. Bush as director of national intelligence.
According to the Post, the video was recorded by the bodycam of a police officer investigating the scene of a stabbing in Rockville, Maryland, on Feb. 13, 2020.
The footage showed Sophia Negroponte hunched over the bleeding body of Yousuf Rasmussen, the report said.
“Breathe! Yousuf, breathe!” she said as she pressed a towel to the man’s neck. “I’m so sorry.”
Rasmussen, 24, was the victim of a fatal knife wound to his neck.
The incident took place at a Rockville Airbnb when Negroponte got into a drunken fight with him and stabbed him in a rage.
Negroponte was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, but the jury ultimately convicted her of second-degree murder.
She now faces up to 40 years in prison, the Post reported.
#BREAKING: Montgomery County Police arrest 27 year old Sophia Negroponte, daughter of former US Ambassador to the UN and first ever DNI, John Negroponte, in connection to fatal Rockville stabbing @nbcwashington @jackiebensen pic.twitter.com/toaPTVq3PZ
— Tom Lynch (@TomLynch_) February 14, 2020
According to Just the News, the defense attempted to use Negroponte’s severe intoxication on the night as a way to lessen the sentence, arguing that she could not have proper intent to murder.
The jury tossed out the first-degree charge but still determined that she “acted with extreme disregard of the life-endangering consequences.”
The prosecution painted a gruesome picture for the jury during closing arguments.
“Her 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,” Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Fenton said.
“Regret afterwards does not change her proven intent at the time the murder was committed,” Fenton said.
John Negroponte, who had been present throughout the trial, gave words of support to his daughter, whom he adopted in Honduras while serving as U.S. ambassador.
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“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,” the former DNI chief said, according to Just the News.
“We don’t want to see her life wasted in prison,” he said.
John Negroponte also brought up the possibility of appealing the verdict.
Rasmussen’s family also issued a statement following the verdict.
The family of Yousuf Rasmussen. Today a Montgomery County Judge found his friend and schoolmate Sophia Negroponte guilty of second-degree murder. She faces up to 40 years in prison. @DCNewsNow pic.twitter.com/q9REWxFxkk
— Cheyenne Corin ✨ (@CheyenneCorin) January 3, 2023
“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,” it said, according to the Post.
Sophia Negroponte’s sentencing is set for March 31.
