After over 11 hours of deliberation, 24-year-old Amanda Knox was acquitted on Monday, October 3 as the Italian court overturned her homicide convictions.

Knox broke down in tears as a jury of eight Italians announced the verdict.

"She'd been terrified; if I hadn't held her up she would have crumbled," said Maria Del Grosso, Knox's lawyer. "All she could say was thank you."

Knox, an American college student, became well known over the past four years for the murder of her roommate, 21 year old Meredith Kercher of the U.K.

Kercher was found stabbed in her room in Perugia, Italy in 2007 as a result of what prosecutors describe as rough sex gone horribly wrong.

"I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal," said Knox in fluent Italian as she pleaded her innocence. "I was not there. I want to go back home. I want to go back to my life. I don't want to be punished. I don't want my life and my future taken away for something I didn't do."

Knox was sentenced in December 2009 to 26 years in prison and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Rollecito, to 25 years.

"We're thankful Amanda's nightmare is over," said Deanna, Knox's sister. "We're grateful for the support we have received from all over the world."

The Seattle, Washington native celebrated her freedom with her family. However, hundreds of people who have been following this case were not pleased with the verdict. Outside the courtroom, many shouted "Shame!" expressing their condolences to the family of the murder victim.

Because the case was built on circumstantial DNA evidence, which Italian authorities collected 46 days after the incident according to The New York Times, the trial could not go on any longer.

Knox retrieved her belongings from the Italian prison flew home to Seattle on Tuesday.