Illinois man who murdered Palestinian-American child sentenced to 53 years in jail

Joseph Czuba found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and wounding of his mother

Joseph Czuba, 71, was found guilty of murder, attempted murder and hate crimes. AP Photo

An Illinois man who murdered a six-year-old Palestinian boy and severely injured the boy’s mother in a vicious attack days after the Israel-Gaza war began was sentenced on Friday to 53 years in prison.

Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate crimes in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.

Prosecutors said the stabbing – one of the earliest and worst hate crime incidents in the US since the start of the war – was sparked by anti-Muslim hatred.

Czuba, who was their landlord, attacked them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 64km from Chicago, when the attack happened.

Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Ms Shaheen and her frantic 911 call from the bathroom, as her son could be heard screaming outside, along with bloody crime scene photos and a police video.

Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.

Wadee Alfayoumi, the six-year-old who was stabbed to death in Chicago. Photo: Family handout

“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial of Wadee. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”

Ms Haneen received more than a dozen stab wounds and took weeks to recover.

The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honour.

Wadee's mother, Ms Haneen, said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room.

Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome.

During the October attack, he confronted Shaheen and held her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.

“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Ms Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator.

Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.

Other recent incidents raising alarm in the US about anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian prejudice include the attempted drowning of a 3-year-old Palestinian-American girl and the stabbing of a Palestinian-American man, both in Texas.

Incidents over anti-Semitism and anti-Israel attitudes include an unsuccessful plot to attack a New York Jewish centre and an arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence.

Hate incidents have also been reported during protests and counter-protests related to the war.