A 71-year-old Chicago-area landlord has been charged with murder and two hate crimes after police say he stabbed a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy to death and seriously injured his mother because of their Muslim faith amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Police were called to the residence in Plainfield Township on Saturday afternoon and found the suspect, Joseph M. Czuba, sitting near the driveway with a laceration on his forehead. Inside the home, police found two victims with multiple stab wounds.
The six-year-old boy later succumbed to his injuries in hospital, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy revealed that the boy was stabbed 26 times all across his body with a 30-centimetre-long serrated military-style knife.
His 32-year-old mother suffered over a dozen stab wounds but is expected to survive.
The sheriff’s office said “both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
The suspect, Czuba, has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and two counts of a hate crime.
Czuba did not make any statements during questioning by detectives, though the sheriff’s office said they “were able to gather enough information through interviews and evidence to formally charge” him. He was transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility in Chicago and is awaiting his initial court appearance.
The sheriff’s office called the crime a “senseless and cowardly act of violence.”
The slain boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother was identified as Hanaan Shahin by the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
In a press release from CAIR, the organization says it reviewed text messages sent between Al-Fayoume’s mother and father while she was recovering in hospital from her injuries. She allegedly wrote that their landlord became angry after seeing news of the Israel-Hamas conflict and showed up at their residence, the ground floor of a house they had rented for two years with no prior incident.
When Al-Fayoume’s mother answered the door, Czuba “tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife, yelling ‘you Muslims must die!'” CAIR writes.
“When she went into the bathroom to call 911, she came out to find that he had stabbed her six-year-old son to death,” the press release reads. “‘It all happened in seconds,’ she texted.”
CAIR held a press conference on Sunday with Al-Fayoume’s father and paternal uncle in attendance.
“We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are,” Yousef Hannon, the boy’s uncle, said.
Al-Fayoume was born in America after his mother and father moved to the U.S. 12 and nine years ago, respectively. The family is originally from a village in the West Bank, said Ahmed Rehab, CAIR-Chicago’s executive director.
Rehab described the boy as a happy child who “loved everything.”
“He loved anything with a ball, basketball, soccer, he loved to colour, he loved to swing around, he loved his parents, he loved his family and his friends, he loved life and he was looking forward to a long, healthy, prosperous life,” Rehab said, recalling how the boy’s father described him.
“He has no clue about these larger issues happening in the world but he was made to pay for it,” Rehab added.
CAIR labelled the crime “our worst nightmare” and called on politicians and media outlets to combat the spread of Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Palestinian racism.
In an earlier remark, Rehab said that “one-sided” political statements and media reporting had created a dangerous environment for members of the Muslim and Palestinian communities who are “essentially sitting ducks.”
Jewish people are also facing elevated safety threats amid the Middle East violence, and police in many cities have stepped up security measures to help ebb fears.
In response to increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a Sunday press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.
“To take a six-year-old child’s life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil,” Pritzker said.
“Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. This wasn’t just a murder — it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan — including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors — deserves to live free from the threat of such evil.”
President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment Sunday, saying in a statement: “This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values.”
“The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek — a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,” Biden wrote. “As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it “condemns, in the strongest terms, the heinous act of racism and hatred which led to the death of a 6-year-old Palestinian child and the serious injury of his mother.”
The ministry is calling on all countries to “confront and punish” those who promote racism and hate against Palestinians.
A funeral for Al-Fayoume will take place Monday at 1 p.m. Central time at Mosque Foundation outside Chicago, according to CAIR. There will be heavy security in place for the funeral.
“As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest,” Rehab said. “My heart and thoughts today are especially with the mother, Hanaan Shahin, who is fighting serious bodily injuries at the hospital, not to mention the mental trauma of what she experienced and witnessed.”
Rehab thanked the Will County Sheriff’s office for their “swift and decisive investigation.”
“Their work sets a standard that I hope will be followed elsewhere. It really helps to have that level of closure for family and community before our darling Wadea is put to rest. We hope justice will be served, and that no family will ever be put in this position,” Rehab said.
A crowd-funding campaign has raised over US$100,000 to help cover funeral, hospital and housing expenses for the family in memory of Al-Fayoume.
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