Palestinian family whose 6-year-old son was killed in alleged hate crime remembered: 'They were good people'

PLAINFIELD, Ill. - A 6-year-old boy was killed and his mother was critically injured when they were stabbed by a man who targeted them because they were Muslim in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The woman, 32, called 911 Saturday morning and told dispatchers that her landlord in southwest suburban Plainfield Township was attacking her with a knife, the Will County Sheriff’s Department said.

Police arrived at the home in the 16000 block of South Lincoln Highway about 11:38 a.m. and found the woman and the boy each with multiple stab wounds, an autopsy found. The boy had been stabbed 26 times.

They were transported to a nearby hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead. The woman was in serious condition, according to Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which held a press conference with relatives of the victims Sunday afternoon.

Police found the suspect, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba, outside the residence and took him into custody. Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

On Monday, Czuba appeared in court shackled and in a jail uniform, looking similar to his booking photo with cuts on his face. A Will County judge ordered him held without pre-trial release.

Investigators said Czuba was intensely interested in the conflict in the Middle East and told his wife that he wanted the mother and son, Palestinian-Americans, to move out. Police said he knocked on their door Saturday morning, argued with the mom and stabbed her and her 6-year-old son while saying anti-Muslim sentiments.

"Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the sheriff’s department said.

CAIR identified the boy as Wadea Al-Fayoume, and his mother as Hanan Shaheen. The organization’s news conference included the boy’s father, uncle and other family members at the Muslim Community Center in Chicago.

"They were good people"

Mariola Jagodzinski, a neighbor, said Shaheen and her son rented a room in the house owned by 71-year-old Joseph Czuba and his wife, and had lived there for at least a couple of years.

Jagodzinski said she had donated some of her children’s old toys to the young boy and his mom around the time they first moved in. "They were good people," Jagodzinski said.

Jagodzinski said she didn’t hear any noise at the time of the attack. But she saw some of the aftermath of the stabbing from behind her fence.

"I saw how they carried the boy on a stretcher, full of blood," Jagodzinski said. "The body was lifeless. It was hard to see that. They were running, rushing to try to save him."

Jagodzinski described Czuba as an "extremely" religious person, and added that she hadn’t had any issues with him or his wife. She said Czuba would sometimes help her fix things around the house. She said she hadn’t seen any problems between Czuba and his tenants but was unaware of anything that happened inside.

Neighbors said Czuba liked to collect things he found in the street and display them in front of his home. Old political campaign signs, tattered U.S. flags, discolored children’s playground sets, broken exercise equipment and other items were strewn around the yard.

Dozens of wooden crosses were planted in a row across the front lawn. A large sign reading "School of the Rock" was displayed in front of the home.

The attack comes as tensions in Gaza have escalated following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas and retaliatory airstrikes. More than 2,670 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted, and more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians.

Rehab said harmful and "one-sided" rhetoric from the media has intensified prejudice and led to violence.

On Sunday on X, the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement: "We’re disgusted and horrified. … We express our condolences to the Muslim community and categorically reject all anti-Muslim hate."

Some area residents stopped by the home Sunday afternoon to show support for the victims, including a woman who said she didn’t know the victims personally but dropped off flowers.

Bolingbrook resident Wally Harazin, who drove his family to Plainfield to show solidarity with fellow Muslims, viewed the attack as personal; he has relatives in Gaza. He criticized what he believes is unfair coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, leading to bias against Muslims and those from Middle Eastern countries.

"How can we protect ourselves from the lies of the media, for a lunatic like this to kill a 6-year-old?" he asked. "That’s hatred. That is absolutely hatred."

He added: "How can I protect my kids? How can every Muslim in this country, that we call free, how can they protect their kids. Is this the last hate crime that is going to be against Muslims? I do not think so."

At the news conference, Yousef Hannon, the boy’s uncle and a former Chicago Public Schools teacher, decried the anti-Islamic commentary he’s seen since last week’s attack: "It hurts me every day."

Hannon said his family members living in Gaza are facing power outages and food and water shortages under the Israeli occupation. He hasn’t been in touch with them for three days.

"This picture has to be changed," he said.

In a statement Sunday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said: "To take a six year old child’s life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil. 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 Biden also spoke on the attack: "This horrific act of hate has no place in America… As Americans, we must come together to reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred."

Contributing: Violet Miller