Wadee Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy, was killed when he was stabbed 26 times in his home in Plainfield Township, Illinois on Oct. 14, 2023.
His mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, suffered critical injuries after being stabbed and strangled. Authorities have called the murder a hate crime motivated by Islamophobia and hostility toward Palestinians, as well as an extremist reaction to the simultaneous Israel-Hamas war that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.
Joseph Czuba, the landlord of the property where Wadee and his family resided, reportedly knocked on their front door before launching into a verbal tirade. Shahin later told detectives that Czuba was irate over the current situation in Israel, and began making discriminatory threats while strangling her. According to BBC, the mother responded to him with, "Let's pray for peace," and he then attacked her with a knife. Shahin then locked herself in the bathroom but was not quick enough to save her son. When she was able to dial 911, Wadee was enduring a relentless and repeated stabbing by Czuba, until the boy fatally succumbed to his wounds. An autopsy later confirmed he had been stabbed a total of 26 times.
An uncle and family spokesman, Yousef Hannon, said that before the killing "there was no signs of anything wrong" between Joseph Czuba, and the victims. "Czuba was friendly to the whole family, but especially to the kid, who he treated like a grandson," Mr. Hannon told the BBC. "He brought him gifts, he brought him some toys."
Prosecutors assigned to the case revealed Czuba had been listening to conservative talk radio and had become increasingly paranoid about the presence of the Palestinian-American family in his home. According to court documents obtained by BBC, Mr. Czuba's wife told police that her husband feared they would be attacked by people of Middle Eastern descent and, worrying that catastrophe would strike the US power grid, had withdrawn $1,000 from a bank.
Wadee's parents are from a village in the West Bank. His mother had immigrated to the United States 12 years prior as did his father, just 9 years prior. Wadee himself was born in the U.S. In his short life, Wadea "loved everything" - from his parents, to Legos to spending time with friends - said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Chicago office, during a press conference where CNN was present."He loved everybody," Rehab said. "He loved his parents, he loved his family and his friends, he loved life and he was looking forward to a long, healthy, prosperous life."
Rather than returning to class that Monday, Wadee was buried. Wadee's mother could not attend the funeral service as she was recovering from her injuries at the time.
A Candlelight Vigil Was Held
Odai Al-Fayoume spoke at a vigil outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Illinois, that was organized before a pretrial hearing for Joseph, Czuba. He made an emotional plea for justice and exhorted Americans to reject bigotry and "embraced the diversity that makes our nation so beautiful," reported ABC News.
"I stand before you with a heavy heart, one that's weighted down by immense grief of losing my dear Wadee," Al-Fayoume continued as a crowd behind him held candles on Wednesday.
Speaking through an interpreter, Al-Fayoume said he will not rest until justice is achieved for his son and his son's mother, Hanna Shahin, who survived the attack. "Wadee deserves nothing less than that. We owe it to him to seek justice," Al-Fayoume said. "However, I also want to take a moment to address a larger issue that we cannot ignore: My son was the victim not only of violence but also of prejudice and hatred. He was targeted because of his faith because he was Muslim and that is something we must confront as a society."
US President Joe Biden said in a statement, as reported by ABC News, that in response to the killing, "The child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek-- refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace, this horrific act of hate has no place in America."
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the killing a "shameful reminder of the destructive role Islamophobia plays in our society."
"We grieve alongside his family and the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities in our state as we reckon with this unthinkable loss," Johnson went on to say.
Imam Omar Suleiman, founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and an adjunct professor of Islamic studies in the graduate liberal studies program at Southern Methodist University, said, "Every single Palestinian child is just as beautiful, has just as much of a right to be mourned and when we mourn Wadea, we are mourning all of those children and when we condemn the hate that killed Wadea, we are condemning the hate that has killed all of those children.
"What type of hate has to be manufactured in the head of a man for him to stand over a 6-year-old boy and stab him 26 times?" he added. "I want each and every single one of us to take a step back and to actually assess our own humanity in the moment," he added.
Joseph Czuba pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and two counts of committing a hate crime.
