JOLIET, Illinois: A jury found an Illinois landlord guilty of murder and hate crime charges Friday for the brutal killing of a 6-year-old whose mother rented rooms in the man\u2019s home, an attack that spiked fears over anti-Muslim discrimination in the earliest days of the war in Gaza.
\nJoseph Czuba, 73, was charged in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14, 2023 in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago. Authorities alleged the family was targeted because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.
\nJurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before returning with the verdict.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know if I should be pleased or upset, if I should be crying or laughing,\u201d Wadee\u2019s father, Odai Alfayoumi, said at a news conference, speaking in Arabic. \u201cPeople are telling me to smile. Maybe if I were one of you, I would be smiling, but I\u2019m the father of the child and I\u2019ve lost the child. And I feel like this decision came to a little too late.\u201d
\nBen Crump, the national civil rights attorney representing Shaheen, released a statement calling the verdict a \u201cmeasure of justice.\u201d
\n\u201cWadee was an innocent six-year-old child whose life was stolen in an act of unimaginable violence fueled by hatred,\u201d the statement added. \u201cWhile we are relieved that his killer has been held accountable, we must continue to stand against the rising tide of hate that led to this senseless act. We must honor Wadee\u2019s memory by continuing to fight against hate in all its forms and working toward a future where every child is safe, valued, and free from violence.\u201d
\nCrump asked that the media continue respecting Shaheen\u2019s privacy as she honors her son\u2019s memory.
\nShaheen did not speak at a press conference following the jury decision. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the civil rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-Chicago, said it was too difficult for her and added that she \u201conly prays for peace and love.\u201d
\nThe trial featured detailed testimony from police officers, medical workers, Czuba\u2019s ex-wife and Shaheen, who described how Czuba attacked her with a knife before going after her son in a different room. Prosecutors say that the child had been stabbed 26 times. He was found naked with a knife still in his side.
\nGraphic photos of the murder, a knife holder Czuba allegedly used that day, along with police video footage were central to the Will County prosecutors\u2019 case. At times video screens showing explicit footage were turned away from the public viewing audience where members of Wadee\u2019s family sat during the trial.
\n\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy\u2019s body,\u201d Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state\u2019s attorney, told jurors during opening statements.
\nCzuba\u2019s attorney, George Lenard, declined comment Friday. Czuba had pleaded not guilty. He faced murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crime charges in an eight-count indictment.
\nCzuba is scheduled for sentencing on May 2, according to the Will County Circuit Clerk\u2019s office.
\nDefense attorneys insisted pieces of evidence tying Czuba to the crimes were missing. His ex-wife, testifying for the prosecution, could only describe one outburst during their 30 years of marriage and said he carried knives often because he was handy around the house.
\n\u201cGo beyond the emotions to carefully examine the evidence,\u201d said Kylie Blatti, one of Czuba\u2019s public defenders. \u201cIt is easy to get lost in the horror of those images.\u201d
\nOne of the critical parts of the trial was Shaheen\u2019s testimony and the 911 call she made to report the crime that happened just days after the war started. She said they had not previously had any issues in the two years they rented from the Czubas. They shared a kitchen and living room with the Czubas.
\nThen after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. Later, he confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.
\n\u201cHe told me \u2018You, as a Muslim, must die,\u201d said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator.
\nShaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover. The boy was later pronounced dead.
\nPolice testified that officers found Czuba outside the house sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.
\nSeparately, civil lawsuits have been filed over the boy\u2019s death, including by his father, Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them.
\nThe case generated headlines around the world and struck deeply for the Chicago area\u2019s large and established Palestinian community. The US Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.
\n\u201cAll of us who are parents, who are Arab or Palestinian \u2026 who are Muslim, we all saw our children die in Wadee Alfayoumi, because this could have been any one of our boys, any one of our girls,\u201d CAIR-Chicago\u2019s Rehab said. \u201cIt just so happened that it was Wadee Alfayoumi. When he was targeted, all of our children were targeted. Every Muslim was targeted when he (Czuba) yelled, \u2018All Muslims must die.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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