On Saturday Amanda Knox, 22, was found guilty of murdering her roommate and sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment. Her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years in jail, as well as both condemned for sexual assault, though the prosecutors demanded life imprisonment — Italy’s toughest sentence.

The blooded body of British student Meredith Kercher, 21, who was sharing room with Knox was found in November, 2007 with a deep knife wound, The Guardian reports.

Both Knox and her boyfriend were also accused of illegally carrying a weapon and burglary.

“It appears clear to us that the attacks on Amanda's character in much of the media and by the prosecution had a significant impact on the judges and jurors and apparently overshadowed the lack of evidence in the prosecution's case against her,” AP posts the family’s statement.