Jury announces verdict in killing of Palestinian-American boy in Will County

JOLIET, Ill. - A jury has convicted a 73-year-old man in the fatal stabbing of 6-year-old Wadee Al-Fayoumi and the critical wounding of the boy’s mother.

Joseph Czuba was found guilty on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime in connection with the death of Al Fayoumi and the stabbing of his mother in October 2023.

When the verdict was read, Czuba showed no emotion.

Authorities said Czuba targeted the family because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 with a Hamas attack on southern Israel.

Boy killed in Plainfield

The backstory:

Prosecutors said Czuba stabbed the boy and his mother, Hanan Shaheen in October 2023, just days after the Hamas attack on Israel, because they are Palestinian-Americans.

The two were tenants living in Czuba‘s Plainfield home.

In a video played in court Thursday, Czuba is seen in a police car speaking—unprompted—about the attack. He claimed he feared for his life.

"I was afraid for my wife. I was afraid they were going to do Jihad on me," Czuba said.

Czuba continued speaking to a Will County deputy sheriff, saying, "I was just trying to help her out because she couldn’t afford a house… She didn’t tell me she was a Muslim… She was a trained fighter. Let me tell you she was a problem. They are like infested rats."

The mother and son had been living at the home for more than two years without incident.

Czuba’s wife testified that he became withdrawn and angry after watching news coverage of the Hamas attack.

In the video played in court, Czuba said, "I can’t believe all these protests of people supporting the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization). It’s so evil. It’s like Nazis."

Meanwhile, forensic experts testified that blood and DNA from Czuba and the victims were found on the knife allegedly used in the attack.

"He could not escape," Prosecutor Michael Fitzgerald said facing jurors during opening statements. "If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body."

Czuba waived his right to testify in his own defense. His attorneys called three sheriff’s deputies to the stand in an effort to clarify some of the evidence.

Mother testifies in court

Shaheen testified Tuesday at the courthouse in suburban Joliet, that she had not previously had any issues in the two years they had rented from the Czubas. They shared a kitchen and living room with the Czubas.

Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. She urged him to "Pray for peace." Later, he 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 mainly testified in English but had an Arabic translator on standby in her primary language. She occasionally turned to the translator for clarification while testifying. But during cross examination, she sought more direct translation often addressing her translator who sat next to her instead of attorneys.

Defense attorney George Lenard asked detailed questions about conversations she had with police at the scene and while she was in the hospital, but Shaheen said she didn’t remember specifics. At times it appeared as though she had trouble understanding what Lenard was getting at.

After the attack, Shaheen said was scared and locked herself in the bathroom, noting blood all over her body and the room. She called 911 when she heard her son screaming in another room.

Yelling could be heard on the background of the call, which Shaheen said was her son. As the roughly 15-minute recording played in court, Shaheen put her head down, clutching a tissue paper in her hand. Attorneys showed photos of her bloodied face at the hospital.

"She seemed shocked, very quiet," testified Sean Kozak, a Plainfield police officer who was the first at the scene. "She was trembling and kind of staring."

What they're saying:

State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D-Bridgeview), the first and only Palestinian-American to serve in the state legislature, issued a statement on the case: 

"My heart goes out to the family of Wadea Al-Fayoume today. Wadea’s murder was and remains a gut-wrenching, preventable tragedy for the entire Palestinian community in Chicago. The jury was right to find Joseph Czuba guilty on all charges, including murder and hate crimes.

"Wadea’s murder didn’t happen in a vacuum – it was the result of decades of dehumanizing, one-sided media coverage of Palestinians and irresponsible statements from elected officials of both parties. From the Israeli government claiming there are no innocent Palestinians to Netanyhu boasting about driving Palestinians from their homes to Trump’s calls for ethnic cleansing – there is no red line that they won’t cross.

"For decades, Democratic and Republican administrations haven’t just stood by as Israel has instituted apartheid rule and committed a genocide – they have provided Israel with billions of American taxpayer dollars for weapons and bombs, and they repeated Israel's racist propaganda about Palestinians.

"It was in this climate that Joseph Czuba was radicalized into killing a child he had once embraced. If we want to honor Wadea’s memory and stop tragic crimes like this from happening again, we must hold our government accountable for the failed policies and dehumanizing rhetoric that catalyzed his brutal murder," said Rep. Rashid.