A Brampton jury has found Rafal LaSota guilty of first-degree murder Monday in the death of a 13-year-old Mississauga girl in 2008.

His co-accused, Michelle Laird, has been found not guilty of the same charge.

Alexandra Firgin-Hewie was found dead outside a home in Mississauga on Dec. 11, 2008. Police said she was stabbed 37 times.

Police charged former fiancées Liard, now 21 and LaSota, now 28, with first-degree murder.

Liard was released from custody on Monday for the first time since she was arrested three years ago.

"I'm very happy, thank you. Praise God," Liard told reporters after being released on Monday.

"I always thought I would be acquitted. So to hear it felt phenomenal."

Liard said she planned on returning to school and finishing her education. She did not comment on whether she still loved her ex-fiancee, but wished Alexandra's family well as she left the courthouse.

"She is terribly missed and I can only hope that her family will be able to be consoled somewhat by what happened," Liard said.

Alexandra's grandmother Halina Firgin spoke briefly as she left court on Monday, saying the girl's death and the trial, including the jury's not guilty verdict on Liard, put the family through a very painful process.

"Alexandra was not only my granddaughter, she was a daughter, and she was a sister. She was a cousin and niece and friend. She was just a young girl, a joyful girl, who tried to make peace with everyone. And it cost her dearly," Firgin said on Monday.

"That love is kept in our hearts and in our memory. But in our memory is also indescribable pain of her death. The terror of her death. And we have to live with that.

"Her muffled screams were not answered," Firgin said, adding that her silent screams for justice were not answered either.

The couple lived in the basement of the house next to which Alexandra Firgin-Hewie's body was found.

Police said at the time of the arrest that the accused "can be classified as friends" of Firgin-Hewie.

Last week, LaSota's lawyer argued that his client may be guilty of manslaughter but should not be found guilty of the first-degree murder charge.

LaSota was drunk and high on drugs and he snapped when he stabbed Firgin-Hewie in his bedroom in 2008, the lawyer said.

Liard's lawyer said there is no evidence to suggest that she planned to kill Firgin-Hewie with LaSota.

With files from CTV Toronto's John Musselman