JOLIET, In poor health. (AP) — An Illinois landlord discovered responsible of a vicious hate crime that left a 6-year-old Muslim boy lifeless and wounded his mom days after the beginning of the war in Gaza in 2023 was due in courtroom Friday for sentencing.
A jury convicted 73-year-old Joseph Czuba in February of homicide and hate crime expenses within the deadly stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi, who was Palestinian American, and the wounding of his mom, Hanan Shaheen. The household had been renting rooms in Czuba’s dwelling in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago, in 2023 when the assault occurred.
Central to prosecutors’ case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mom, who mentioned Czuba attacked her earlier than transferring on to her son, insisting they needed to go away as a result of they have been Muslim. Prosecutors additionally performed the 911 name and confirmed police footage. Czuba’s spouse, Mary, whom he has since divorced, additionally testified for the prosecution, saying he had turn out to be agitated concerning the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.
Police mentioned Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 instances, leaving the knife within the kid’s physique. Among the bloody crime scene images have been so specific that the choose agreed to show tv screens displaying them away from the viewers, which included Wadee’s kin.
“He couldn’t escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s legal professional, instructed jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t sufficient that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife within the little boy’s physique.”
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes earlier than returning a verdict. Czuba is eligible for a minimal jail sentence of 20 to 60 years or life, in accordance with the Will County state’s legal professional’s workplace.
Prosecutors declined to remark forward of Friday’s listening to and haven’t mentioned what sentence they may search. Illinois doesn’t have the loss of life penalty.
The assault renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit notably onerous in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a big and established Palestinian group. Wadee’s funeral drew massive crowds and Plainfield officers have devoted a park playground in his honor.
Czuba didn’t communicate in the course of the trial. His protection attorneys argued that there have been holes within the case. His public defender, George Lenard, has not addressed reporters and declined remark forward of the sentencing.
Shaheen had greater than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
She mentioned there have been no prior points within the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a lounge.
Then after the beginning of the struggle, Czuba instructed her that they needed to transfer out as a result of Muslims weren’t welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and making an attempt to interrupt her enamel.
“He instructed me ’You, as a Muslim, should die,” mentioned Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic although a translator.
Police testified that officers discovered Czuba exterior the home, sitting on the bottom with blood on his physique and arms.
Individually, civil lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s loss of life, together with by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who’s divorced from Shaheen and was not residing with them. The U.S. Division of Justice additionally launched a federal hate crimes investigation.
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