(CNN) One of two American teenagers accused of murdering an Italian police officer claims the "facts" of his case have been "unfairly misrepresented" by the media, according to a statement from his family's attorney.

Finnegan Lee Elder , 19, was arrested in Rome in July alongside 18-year-old Gabriel Natale Hjorth, on suspicion of murdering Carabinieri officer Mario Cerciello Rega . Rega was stabbed eight times as he attempted to recover a stolen backpack from the teens, police say.

Elder's family sent a statement to CNN through their attorney Craig Peters, after visiting him in prison Friday. "Finn is trying to stay hopeful but has suffered from severe depression since the incident. While in prison he has seen the way the media has portrayed him and the circumstances of the case & it has been difficult to hear the facts unfairly misrepresented," the statement read.

"The family hopes that the truth will come out soon, so that everyone involved can start the healing process," it continued.

Italian police officer Mario Cerciello Rega was stabbed to death in Rome following a botched drug deal.

In a subsequent statement, the Elders' attorneys said, "We have come to the end of the window in which the prosecution can gather reliable evidence (a month and half after the incident). It now appears that the prosecution has a case of what happened at the scene built on the statements of a declared liar, a drug pusher and a drunk."

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