A six-member Italian jury and two judges acquitted Monday American Amanda Knox and her former lover for killing her British roommate in the Italian university town of Perugia in 2007.

The decision announced amid an emotionally-charged hearing at an appeals court in Perugia overturned the murder convictions of Knox, 24, and co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito, 27, who were both sentenced by a different jury in 2009 to 26 and 25 years imprisonment for the death of Meredith Kercher. Police found Kercher sexually assaulted and her throat slashed in the room she shared with Knox.

Knox went hysterical upon hearing the verdict and was led out of the court crying. Her sister and supporters outside the courthouse cheered the verdict.

Kercher's family, who was also present during the hearing, was emotionally dismayed and their supporters shouted, "Shame! Shame!" according to CNN.

The acquittal came after prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Knox and Sollecito were guilty of the murder charges. DNA from the defendants used as evidence to link them to the murder of Kercher were inconclusive, the jury found.

The prosecutors and Kercher's family can appeal the verdict before Italy's supreme Court of Cassation. They were asking the appeals court to uphold the conviction of the two accused and the lengthening of their sentences to life imprisonment.

In her appeal to the jury before the verdict was read, Knox insisted she did not kill Kercher and pleaded for her freedom.
''I am paying with my life for things that I did not commit,'' Knox told the jury in fluent Italian, according to ANSA. ''I want to go home, I want my life back, 'I am innocent."

Deanna, Knox's sister, told reporters she was thankful that her four-year suffering finally ended.

Knox's lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, told CNN he was satisfied with the verdict.

A black van took Knox back to prison to arrange her release. She will leave for her hometown in Seattle, USA on Tuesday, her supporter, Rocco Girlanda, a member of the Italian parliament, revealed, according to CNN.

The past jury had convicted a third man, drifter Rudy Guede, for involvement in the killing of Kercher. He is serving 16 years.
That jury also convicted Knox of defamation for which she served three years in prison and paid a fine of $54,000 to club owner Patrick Lumumba. She had wrongly accused Lumumba of killing Kercher and he sued her.

How Monday's jury voted to acquit Knox and Sollecito will remain a secret but the main judge, Claudio Pratillo Hellman, will explain the verdict within 90 days.

Knox and Kercher were both students at a foreign university in Perugia when the murder happened. Sollecito was a student in another university in the same town.