Landlord Who Killed Palestinian Boy in Hate Crime Dies in Prison

Joseph M. Czuba, the 73-year-old landlord convicted of murdering 6-year-old Palestinian American boy Wadee Alfayoumi and injuring his mother during a 2023 hate crime, has died while serving a 53-year prison sentence.

Czuba died Thursday in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

The Context

Police say Czuba singled out the victims in reaction to the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas and because of their faith.

Authorities in the U.S. have been on high alert for violence driven by Islamophobic or antisemitic sentiment, while both Muslim and Jewish groups have reported a rise in hateful rhetoric as Israel continues to launch airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip following Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Will County Sheriff’s Office said a woman called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife. Authorities did not initially name the victims, but the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil liberties organization, identified the boy as Wadee Alfayoume and the woman as his mother, Hanaan Shahin.

Czuba yelled “you Muslims must die!” as he choked Shahin and attacked her with a knife, she wrote in text messages sent to her son’s father, according to CAIR-Chicago. They had been living in the home for two years, Ahmed Rehab, the group’s executive director, said during a news conference following the attack.

The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital, and his mother had sustained multiple stab wounds but survived the attack. An autopsy on the boy found he had been stabbed 26 times.

Czuba was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, and hate-crime charges.

What To Know

The February trial featured harrowing evidence including testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a guilty verdict. Central to prosecutors’ case was testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim.

Czuba’s wife Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war. Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child’s body.

Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee’s relatives.

What People Are Saying

In a 2023 statement, former President Joe Biden said: “This horrific act of hate has no place in America and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.”

He added: “As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone.”

Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.