SEATTLE (AP) — Amanda Knox says she's "tremendously relieved and grateful" that Italy's highest court overturned her murder conviction in the slaying of her roommate.

Knox said in a statement Friday that knowing she was innocent gave her "strength in the darkest times of this ordeal." She said she relied on support from her family and friends and thanked her supporters.

An appeals court in 2011 cleared Knox in the 2007 slaying of British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, and ordered her released after she had spent four years in prison. Her acquittal was overturned. She was convicted in absentia in 2014. On Friday, Italy's highest court overturned that murder conviction, finally closing Knox's long legal saga.

In a separate statement, Knox's family expressed their "profound gratitude" to people who helped the 27-year-old Seattle resident.

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