Italy's highest court has overturned the murder conviction against Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend, bringing to a definitive end the high-profile case.

The decision by the supreme Court of Cassation is the final ruling in the case, ending the long legal battle waged by Knox and co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito. Both Knox, who was awaiting the verdict in her hometown of Seattle, and Sollecito have long maintained their innocence.

The supreme Court of Cassation overturned last year's convictions by a Florence appeals court, and declined to order another trial. The decision means the judges, after thoroughly examining the case, concluded that a conviction could not be supported by the evidence. Their reasoning will be released within 90 days.

The case generated intense media attention on both sides of the Atlantic after Kercher's half-naked body was found Nov. 2, 2007 in the apartment she shared with Knox and two Italian roommates in the university town of Perugia.

Knox and Sollecito were arrested a few days later. They were convicted by a Perugia court in 2009, acquitted and freed in 2011, and convicted in 2014 in Florence after the Cassation court overturned the acquittals and ordered a new appeals trial.

Knox and Sollecito have maintained their innocence, saying they had spent the evening of Kercher's murder at Sollecito's place watching a movie, smoking pot and making love.