Illinois landlord to be sentenced in hate crime that left 6-year-old
Palestinian American boy dead
[May 02, 2025]
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord found guilty of a vicious hate
crime that left a 6-year-old Muslim boy dead and wounded his mother days
after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023 was due in court Friday for
sentencing.
A jury convicted 73-year-old Joseph Czuba in February of murder and hate
crime charges in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi, who was
Palestinian American, and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. The
family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40
miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago, in 2023 when the attack happened.
Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s
mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son,
insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also
played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom
he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had
become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days
earlier.
Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the
boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody
crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn
television screens showing them away from the audience, which included
Wadee's relatives.
“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant
state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this
defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s
body.”
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict. Czuba is
eligible for a minimum prison sentence of 20 to 60 years or life,
according to the Will County state's attorney's office.
Prosecutors declined to comment ahead of Friday's hearing and have not
said what sentence they will seek. Illinois does not have the death
penalty.
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Wadee Alfayoumi's father, Oday Al Fayoume, seated right, and
his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadee at Prairie
Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Oct. 17, 2023.
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit
particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have
a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew
large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park
playground in his honor.
Czuba did not speak during the trial. His defense attorneys argued
that there were holes in the case. His public defender, George
Lenard, has not addressed reporters and declined comment ahead of
the sentencing.
Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to
recover.
She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from
the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room.
Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to
move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted
Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying
to break her teeth.
“He told me ’You, as a Muslim, must die,” said Shaheen, who
testified in English and Arabic though a translator.
Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house,
sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.
Separately, civil lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death,
including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from
Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice
also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.
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