An Illinois landlord has pleaded not guilty to hate crime over the brutal fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Muslim boy in Plainfield earlier this month.
The suspect was identified to be Joseph Czuba and the one he killed was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume. The landlord allegedly stabbed the young boy 26 times using a "military-style knife" and injured the victim's mother, Hanan Shaheen, by stabbing her more than a dozen times.
Brutal Stabbing of Muslims
Law enforcement personnel charged Czuba with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Authorities also believe that the victims of the incident "were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis."
The Department of Justice (DOJ) also opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the murder of the Muslim boy and the stabbing of his mother. The brutal crime took place on Oct. 14 shortly before noon. Deputies arrived at a residence following a call about a stabbing between a landlord and tenant, as per ABC News.
Will County Assistant State's Attorney Michael Fitzgerald also spoke during Czuba's arraignment that was held on Oct. 16. He said that Shaheen told investigators that when first confronted by the landlord over the violence in the Holy Land, she told him, "Let's pray for peace."
The two victims were discovered in the bedroom of a residence, both were found to have had multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities. The 32-year-old mother was then taken to a hospital in serious condition and was released last week.
The sheriff's department added that Wadea was taken to the hospital in critical condition to be treated but later succumbed to his injuries. The young Muslim's boy name means "beautiful" and was known to love playing soccer, learning about the solar system, and swinging in the park.
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Pleads Not Guilty
The 71-year-old suspect did not make a statement to detectives after being arrested over the crime. A grand jury last week returned an eight-count indictment against Czuba and he currently faces a maximum of life in prison if he is convicted, according to CNN.
Oday Al-Fayoume, the father of the young Muslim boy, attended the brief hearing on Monday morning. Shaheen said that moments before the brutal attack, Czuba allegedly told her that he was angry at her for what was going on in Israel.
During a previous court appearance, Czuba only spoke briefly and told the judge that he intended to have his assigned public defender represent him in the case. The executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Chicago office, Ahmed Rehab, said that Wadea's parents are from a village in the West Bank.
It was noted that the boy's mother moved to the United States more than a decade ago and that his father moved to the U.S. a few years later. The brutal attack is part of the international ripple effect of the Hamas attacks on Israel and the latter's ensuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, said CNN.
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