PBS: Trial starts for Illinois landlord charged with 2023 hate crime and murder of Palestinian American boy
FILE PHOTO: Mourners place flowers at the grave of Wadea Al-Fayoume at Parkholm Cemetery where the burial took place of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, a Muslim boy who according to police was stabbed to death in an attack that targeted him and his mother for their religion and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, in LaGrange, Illinois, Oct. 16, 2023. Photo by Jim Vondruska/ Reuters
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — The trial of a suburban Chicago landlord accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in a 2023 attack on a Palestinian American woman and her young son is set to start Tuesday.
Joseph Czuba, 73, is charged in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14, 2023. Authorities said the family was targeted 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.
READ MORE: Muslim boy remembered as kind, energetic by mourners in Chicago suburb
Opening statements start Tuesday morning in a trial that is expected to last about a week.
Czuba has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and other charges. His defense attorney, George Lenard, declined to comment before the end of the trial.
The attack on the family in Plainfield, nearly 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, has renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination in the Chicago area’s large and established Palestinian community. The proceedings also come amid rising hostility against Muslims and Palestinians in the U.S. since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
“We firmly pray and hope that Mr. Czuba will be locked up for the rest of his life, so we can send a message that hate crimes against anyone on the basis of their religion and national origin are not tolerated,” Joe Milburn, a staff attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told reporters Monday ahead of jury selection.
Prosecutors allege Czuba became increasing paranoid about the war because of listening to commentary on conservative talk radio. Shaheen told police that Czuba was upset over the war and attacked them after she had urged him to “pray for peace.”
The boy — whose name was initially spelled Wadea Al-Fayoume by authorities — was stabbed 26 times. Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
The murder charge in the indictment against Czuba describes the boy’s death as the result of “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior.” Czuba remained detained with prosecutors arguing that Czuba was a danger to Shaheen and others.
Hundreds attended the boy’s janazah, or funeral service, where the boy was remembered as kind and into sports and Legos.
Separately, the father of the boy, who is divorced from Shaheen and did not live at the home, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.