Denver activist Terrance Roberts, known for abandoning his life with the Bloods street gang and focusing his efforts on peace, was acquitted Friday in the highly publicized 2013 shooting of Hasan Isaiah Jones.

“I just feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Roberts jubilantly said as he quickly left the courthouse.

The jury was presented the case Wednesday afternoon after three days of trial and returned the verdict just before 10 a.m. Friday. Roberts was charged in the shooting with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree aggravated assault.

Accusations that Roberts, a convicted felon, was also a habitual criminal were dropped after the jury’s verdict was read.

The courtroom erupted into whoops of relief and excitement as the finding was handed down. Some members of the gallery clapped as others cheered “This is justice!” and “Yes!”

“Thank you, guys,” a smiling Robert yelled to jurors as they were led out of the courtroom.

Alma Staub, who prosecuted the case, said she respected the jury’s verdict and was glad to see a resolution.

“I am very glad the jury was able to come to a unanimous verdict,” she said. “This is a very hard kind of case. This is the exact type of case that has to go before a jury because of the difficult facts.”

Roberts shot Jones, now 24, five times in front of the Boys & Girls Club in Holly Square, on Sept. 20, 2013, prior to a peace rally that the gang activist had organized.

During the trial, Roberts maintained he shot Jones, nicknamed “Munch,” in self-defense because he feared for his safety after Bloods accused him of being a snitch. Roberts said after the verdict was read that he wishes the best for Jones and his family.

“I’ve been saying for two years that I did not shoot Hasan for no reason,” Roberts told reporters outside the courtroom. “Why would I want to shoot a young man?”

Witnesses to the shooting testified that Roberts fired a 9mm handgun as Jones turned away from him then continued firing into his limp body. Afterward, Roberts tossed a folding knife onto Jones’ body.

Roberts later told police that the knife belonged to Jones, but it was Roberts’ DNA investigators found on the weapon, not Jones’, prosecutors said during the trial.

Prosecutors, who had to prove that Roberts didn’t fear for his life or fire in self-defense, presented evidence to show the shooting was motivated by Roberts’ anger with Jones, who he believed had disrespected him.

The district attorney specifically focused on how Roberts had changed his story about the shooting several times.

Jones, who is in the Arapahoe County jail in connection with the August 2014 death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter, refused to testify in the Roberts case because Denver prosecutors had tried him on attempted murder charges.

Before his arrest, Roberts spent eight years trying to improve Park Hill and lead other gang members away from the lifestyle. Roberts had even counseled Jones, who was a Bloods gang member.

“I want to develop my projects, even if it takes me 10 years to do that,” Roberts said Friday as he prepared to be driven away from court.

“… I don’t even know what the future holds.”