Illinois jury convicts man in hate crime murder of Palestinian American boy

1/3/2025 15:17

An Illinois jury on Friday found a man guilty of murder and hate crime charges for an October 2023 stabbing that killed a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and severely wounded his mother, according to court documents.



Joseph Czuba faces life in prison when he is sentenced in May for a murder that prosecutors said was sparked by anti-Muslim hatred. It took place just days after Hamas militants carried out an October 7, 2023 attack inside Israel.



The murder of the boy, Wadee Alfayoumi, and the attack on his mother, Hanan Shaheen, was one of the earliest and worst hate crime incidents in the U.S. since the start of the Israel-Gaza war.



Rights advocates have noted rising Islamophobia and antisemitism in the U.S. since the October 2023 Hamas attack and U.S. ally Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza.



Czuba, who was the landlord for Shaheen and her son, stabbed the boy 26 times with a military-style knife with a 7-inch serrated blade, authorities said. Shaheen suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack that occurred in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.



During the trial this week, Shaheen testified that Czuba told her "you, as a Muslim, must die"