Man who was sentenced to 53 years of hate criminal attack on Palestinian-American boys

A landlord in Illinois, who murdered a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously injured the boy's mother in a malignant hate criminal attack after the beginning of the Gaza War, 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.

Czuba aimed in October 2023 because of its Islamic faith and in response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

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 64 kilometers 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.

Related history | Mom reveals the last words of the 6-year-old who were killed in anti-Muslim attack

“He couldn't escape,” said Michael Fitzgerald, a deputy prosecutor of Will County County, the jury in 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. According to the public prosecutor's office, Czuba can take a prison sentence of 20 to 60 years or a lifetime for a prison sentence of the district.

The public prosecutor rejected a comment before the hearing on Friday and did not say what judgment they would be looking for. Illinois does not have the death penalty.

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.

Czuba did not speak during the process. His defenders argued that there were holes in the case. His public defender, George Lenard, did not address reporters and rejected a comment before the conviction.

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 in English and Arabic, although a translator said.

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.