Sophia Negroponte, 33, received a 35-year prison sentence Friday from Judge Terrence McGann for the fatal stabbing of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen at a Maryland Airbnb in February 2020. The sentencing follows a trial that was retried after a 2024 appeals court ruling overturned her initial 2023 conviction due to contested audio evidence being improperly admitted.

According to charging documents, the victim initially left the Airbnb following a dispute between himself, Negroponte, and a third party. When he returned to retrieve his phone, prosecutors said Negroponte attacked him with a knife, inflicting multiple stab wounds, including one that severed his jugular. Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy described the attack as a “death blow” and called the sentence “an appropriate and just outcome.”

First responders arrived after a 911 call on Feb. 13, 2020, to find Negroponte covered in blood and atop the victim, reportedly screaming, “I’m sorry.” She had faced second-degree murder charges and was found guilty after the initial 2023 trial.

Negroponte is one of five children adopted by John Negroponte and his wife after he served as U.S. ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s. John Negroponte later became the first director of national intelligence in 2005, as well as deputy secretary of state and ambassador to multiple nations including Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations, and Iraq.

The court’s decision mirrors the sentence from the 2023 trial, reinforcing the severity of the crime and the consistent evaluation of evidence by two separate juries. Sophia Negroponte will serve decades behind bars for the brutal killing of her friend.