Joseph Czuba gets 53 years in prison for hate criminal attacks on woman, her son: NPR

Joliet, Ill.-a landlord in Illinois who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate criminal attack day after the Gaza strip began, was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Friday.

The 73-year-old Joseph Czuba was guilty in February for murder, murder and hate criminality allegations in the death of Wade Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother Hanan Shaheen.

Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak condemned Czuba in the death of the boy to 30 years and another 20 years in a row for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years in prison for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it anything but sure that it will die behind bars.

“No judgment can restore what has been accepted, but today's result provides a necessary level of justice,” said Ahmed Rehab, Managing Director of Cair-Chicago. “Wade was an innocent child. He became because of who he was – Muslim, Palestinian and loved.”

Czuba did not speak during the conviction. The lawyer of Czuba, Lenard, rejected a comment. James Glasgow's office of the district of the district of County gave a statement in which Czuba described a “morally reprehensible murderer” and the effects of his actions “really”.

The boy's great uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that it is not enough, regardless of the set length. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of it, he said.

Yousef Bat Czuba explained why he attacked the boy and his mother, and asked him what message he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not answer, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In October 2023, Czuba aimed because of her Islamic faith and in response to the war between Israel and Hamas, the prosecutors said during the trial.

The evidence included shattering testimonials from Shaheen and their hectic 911 call as well as bloody crime scene photos and police videos. The jury reported less than 90 minutes before making a judgment.

The family had rented rooms in Czuba's house in Plainfield, about 40 miles from Chicago when the attack took place.

Central to the case of the public prosecutor was a frightening testimony of the boy's mother, who said that Czuba attacked her before she switched to her son, and insisted that they had to go because they were Muslims. The prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police material. Czuba's wife Mary, whom he has divorced since then, also said for law enforcement and said he had become excited about the Israel-Hamas War, which had broken out before.

The police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder onto a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, with the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicitly that the judge agreed to turn television screens, which they also included from the audience, to which Wadees also included relatives.

“He couldn't escape,” said Michael Fitzgerald, a deputy lawyer of the deputy deputy Willkreis, the jurors on court. “If it wasn't enough that this defendant killed this little boy, he left the knife in the little boy's body.”

The jury considered 90 minutes before returning a judgment.

The attack renewed the fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and the surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wade's funeral attracted large crowds and Plainfield officers dedicated a parking playground to him in honor.

Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took weeks for it to recover.

She said that there were no previous problems in the two years that she had rented from the Czubas, and even a kitchen and a living room. Then Czuba told her after the war that they had to move out because the Muslims were not welcome. Later he confronted Shaheen, attacked her, held her down, stabbed her and tried to break her teeth.

“He told me that they had to die as a Muslim,” said Shaheen, who testified in court in English and Arab translators in court.

The police said that officials found Czuba in front of the house and sat on the floor with blood on the body and hands.

Regardless of this, complaints about the boy's death, including his father Odai Alfayoumi, who was divorced by Shaheen and did not live with them. The US Ministry of Justice has also initiated an investigation of federal hate crimes.

After the hearing, Yousef said that Czuba was a grandfather figure for Wadeee and the family did not understand what “fake news” could have heard about the war in Gaza, who prompted him to attack the boy and his mother. People have to understand Muslims before they judge them, he said.

“Some people bring this war to this country,” said Yousef. “We can't. We cannot bring the war here. We cannot bring this country hatred … we need it to stop.”