Bush-Era Cabinet Member’s Daughter Charged With Fatally Stabbing Friend

The daughter of one the country’s highest-ranking former diplomats has been charged with fatally stabbing an acquaintance in the neck during a late-night argument.

Sophia Negroponte allegedly killed Yousuf Rasmussen, 24, inside an apartment in Rockville, Maryland just before midnight Thursday, the Montgomery County Department of Police said.

The 27-year-old is the daughter of former director of national intelligence John Negroponte, the Washington Post reported.

Police said Negroponte and Rasmussen had gotten into a disagreement when she attacked him. She allegedly retrieved the knife from a kitchen drawer, unsheathed it, and lunged at Rasmussen. She then allegedly removed the knife and pleaded with him not to die after the fact.

The stabbing occurred late Thursday after the two had been drinking and watching television together, according to the Post. A third friend who had been with them called 911 and said the two had been arguing throughout the evening, at one point even wrestling on the floor.

Negroponte acknowledged in an interview with police that their friend had not stabbed Rasmussen and that she and the victim had an altercation, according to the Post, though she told authorities she did not remember stabbing him.

President George W. Bush appointed John Negroponte director of national intelligence in 2005. He was the first to hold the post. He and his wife Diana adopted five children from Honduras while stationed there in the 1980s.

After Sophia’s arrest Thursday, Diana Negroponte told the Post, “We love her deeply.”