PERUGIA, Italy, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- The conviction of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend is not "a time for celebration," the victim's brother said Saturday after the verdict in an Italian court.
Lyle Kercher spoke at an early-morning news conference in Perugia, The Guardian reported. The guilty verdicts for Knox, 22, and Raffaele Sollecito, 25, were announced just after midnight.
Meredith Kercher, 21, a University of Leeds student spending a year in Perugia, was killed in 2007 in the house she shared with Knox, a University of Washington student.
"Ultimately we are pleased with the decision, pleased that we've got a decision, but it's not a time for celebration," Lyle Kercher said.
The Kercher family was awarded 4.4 million euros ($6.5 million) in damages. Lyle Kercher called the award "symbolic."
"It's not the case that this has ever been about us seeking money, which is why we've been reluctant to do much media stuff throughout," he said. "That money will never really change anything in that respect."
Another brother, John Kercher, said the family wants to remember the years they had with Meredith and not the way her life ended.
Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, and Sollecito to 25. A third defendant pleaded guilty earlier and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
