Man convicted in killing of 6-year-old Palestinian American boy gets 53 years in prison
An Illinois landlord convicted of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in a hate-fueled attack days after the Israel-Hamas war broke out will spend 53 years in prison, according to local reports.
Joseph Czuba, 73, received the sentence on May 2 for the murder of kindergartener Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanaan Shaheen. Prosecutors said Czuba attacked his tenants because of a "hatred of Muslims" and following an interaction over the war in the Middle East.
In February, a jury found Czuba guilty of murder, attempted murder and hate crime charges in stabbing that shocked the nation, launched a hate crime probe by the Justice Department and was quickly denounced by officials, including former President Joe Biden.
Outside the courtroom, Wadee's grandfather Mahmoud Yousef told reporters that no sentence is "justified," saying whatever punishment Czuba receives will pale in comparison to the loss his family will suffer forever.
"It doesn't matter what the numbers are," he said. "He took a life from us. He took a future."
Czuba appeared in court for the sentencing hearing, but declined to provide a statement, according to the Chicago Tribune.
On Oct. 14, 2023, Will County deputies found Wadee and his mother with severe stab wounds inside one of the two bedrooms she rented from Czuba in Plainfield, a suburb 40 miles outside Chicago. Wadee had been stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife and was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after the attack.
Prosecutors said in the days leading up to the murder, Czuba "expressed concern over the Hamas/Israel conflict and had asked Hanan to move out because she and Wadee were Muslim."
The stabbing occurred a week after Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israel's military offensive against Hamas has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
What happened during hate-fueled attack?
Shaheen, who survived more than a dozen stab wounds, told authorities the attack began shortly after Czuba angrily confronted her about the Israel-Hamas war and she proposed they “pray for peace,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Czuba forced his way into Shaheen’s bedroom and attacked her with a large knife. She managed to lock herself in a bathroom, after which he turned to Wadee and stabbed the boy over two dozen times. When authorities arrived, they found the boy with a knife still in his body.
Czuba’s ex-wife, who divorced him after he was arrested and later testified against him, said Czuba feared he would be attacked by people of Middle Eastern descent. Before the murder, Czuba’s ex-wife said he told her he wanted Shaheen and Wadee to move out, saying he believed Shaheen would call over “Palestinian friends or family to harm them.”
Prosecutors allege that Czuba’s violent outburst came as a result of listening to anti-Muslim speech on conservative talk radio. Johnny Simon, an attorney for Wadee’s family, told Paste BN after Czuba was found guilty that a next step in the case is determining whether the pundits Czuba followed bear any legal responsibility as well as possibly those who heard his racist comments and did nothing.
“Anyone who knew about that played a part in this,” Simon said. “What this shows is that the things people say, words and rhetoric matter. We need to be accountable for what we say because it has a real effect on people.”
The attack drew quick condemnation
The attack was among the worst in the U.S. tied to the conflict in the Middle East and came as law enforcement officials nationwide warned of an increased threat of violence as tensions erupted over the war.
Former President Joe Biden denounced the stabbings a day after they occurred and marked the one-year anniversary of the boy’s death in October 2024. Under the direction of former Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department also launched a hate crime investigation into the attack.
In September, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution to honor Wadee, writing, "This resolution recognizes the loss of Wadee Alfayoumi and that the United States has zero tolerance for hate crimes, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab discrimination."
Plainfield sits in northeastern Illinois, a portion of the state that is home to some of the largest Palestinian communities in the country. Hundreds of people, some waving Palestinian flags, attended Wadee's funeral.
In February, the city of Plainfield dedicated a playground to the boy.
Contributing: Michael Loria and Karissa Waddick