PERUGIA, Italy -- A lawyer says UW student Amanda Knox will stand trial in the murder of her British roommate in Perugia, Italy. An Ivory Coast man has been convicted of murder of the same crime, the lawyer said.

The judge indicted Knox and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual violence in the slaying of Meredith Kercher in Perugia last year, said Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the victim's family. The trial will start Dec. 4.

Rudy Hermann Guede, of Ivory Coast, was sentenced to 30 years in jail after his defense requested a fast-track trial, Maresca said. Prosecutors had asked for life in prison, but such a sentence is normally reduced to 30 years in a fast-track trial.

All three have denied wrongdoing.

Kercher, a 21-year-old student from England, was found dead Nov. 2 in the apartment she shared with Knox. She died from a stab wound to the neck.

Knox' lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said the American "was quite disappointed" by the ruling.

"She is ready to start again," Ghirga told reporters. "The (first) hearing is very close, we have to reorganize our defense line in time."

Knox's parents, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas, and their families released a statement Tuesday in Seattle, saying they were "extremely disappointed and surprised" by the judge's decision, "given the weakness of the evidence against her.

"We believe that she will eventually be proven innocent of all charges against her and we will support her in every way possible as we work toward her complete exoneration," her parents said.

Judge Paolo Micheli emerged with a verdict after almost 12 of hours of deliberations. All the proceedings were held behind closed doors.

Also attending the hearing was Kercher's family, including her mother, father, two brothers and a sister.

"We are as pleased as we can be with the decision, at the end of the day we are here because our sister Meredith was murdered," brother Lyle Kercher said at a news conference.

The victim's other brother, John, said he was "overwhelmed" when the judge handed down a guilty verdict for Guede.

CBS radio reporter Sabina Castelfranco was there as the decision came down and said many were expecting Knox to be released from jail.

“There's not much evidence against Amanda, and it was a very surprising that the judge should rule that Amanda stand trial,” Castelfranco said.

She said for those who have been following the case over the course of the last year, they seem to be a building sympathy for Knox.

Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito, who were jailed shortly after the slaying, had asked that their clients be granted house arrest if indicted. Lawyers leaving the court house in Perugia said Micheli did not rule on the request and a decision is expected in the coming days.

Prosecutors allege that Kercher died during what began as a sex game, with Sollecito holding her by the shoulders from behind while Knox touched her with the point of a knife and Guede tried to sexually assault her. Prosecutors say Knox then fatally stabbed Kercher in the throat.

Guede has acknowledged being in the house, saying he was in the bathroom when Kercher was attacked and that he rushed into the bedroom to try to rescue her. Scared, he immediately fled the scene, he said.

Sollecito, 24, has said he was in his own apartment in Perugia and that he doesn't remember if Knox spent part or all of that night with him.

Knox, 21, initially told investigators she was in the house when Kercher was killed, and covered her ears against the victim's screams. Later, Knox said she wasn't in the house.

Prosecutors say Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a knife that might have been used in the slaying, while Kercher's DNA was found on the blade.

They say they found Sollecito's DNA on the victim's bra, although Sollecito's defense team says the bra bore multiple DNA traces and charge the evidence might have been inadvertently contaminated during the investigation.