Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was acquitted of two counts of first-degree murder on Friday, following six days of jury deliberations that lasted more than 40 hours, the Associated Press reports. The jury also acquitted Hernandez of having allegedly shot Alexander Bradley, the prosecution’s key witness.

Hernandez, who days ago blew kisses to his 4-year-old daughter in the courtroom, reacted with a nod on Friday as the jury’s decision was read, according to Boston Globe reporter Travis Andersen who was tweeting from the courtroom. Anderson said Hernandez later cried as he hugged his attorneys, while the families of the Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, whom Hernandez had been accused of killing, hung their heads.

Hernandez had been accused of shooting de Abreu and Furtado over an alleged nightclub altercation, supposedly witnessed by Bradley, Hernandez’s former friend and marijuana supplier. Bradley, who is serving a five-year sentence of his own over a shooting in a Hartford bar, testified earlier this month that the altercation began after de Abreu accidentally bumped into Hernandez causing a drink to spill on the former player. Bradley said Hernandez later ordered him to follow de Abreu out of the club and eventually onto the road, where Bradley said Hernandez shot the men from the vehicle.

The defense, however, argued Bradley made up the story and theorized that de Abreu and Furtado weren’t killed by Hernandez, but by someone else, perhaps, Bradley who was angered over a soured drug deal.

Prosecutors also pointed to Hernandez’s tattoos as evidence, including one on his arm he allegedly got eight months after the victims died. Depicting a gun barrel loaded with five bullets and a spent shell casing, prosecutors said it represented the five bullets the shooter fired at the victims.

Hernandez’s lawyers questioned the key tattoo witness, as well, arguing that tattoo artist David Nelson gave conflicting accounts about when Hernandez actually got the tattoos.

While Hernandez, who is already serving a life sentence after being convicted of the murder of Odin Lloyd in a separate case, was found not guilty of the most serious charges in his latest trial, the jury did convict him of unlawful possession of a gun. For that, the judge sentenced him up another “four to five years in prison” to be served apart from his existing sentence.