Illinois landlord charged with hate crime after allegedly stabbing Muslim 6-year-old to death, wounding mother

An Illinois landlord who allegedly stabbed a 6-year-old Palestinian Muslim boy to death and wounded his 32-year-old mother has been charged with two counts of hate crime in addition to first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. 

Wadea Al-Fayoume and Hanaan Shahin were “targeted by the suspect,” 71-year-old Joseph Czuba, “due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”

According to the Will County Sheriff’s Department, the incident took place on Saturday in Plainfield Township, a small community 40 miles south of Chicago.

Around 11:30am, officers responded to Czuba’s residence, where they found him sitting near his driveway. The victims, his tenants, were discovered soon after in a bedroom.

Both Wadea and his mother were taken to the hospital in critical and serious condition, respectively. The boy was declared deceased not long after arriving at the hospital. Hanaan, who suffered over a dozen stab wounds, is expected to survive.

An autopsy subsequently performed by a forensic pathologist revealed that Wadea had been stabbed 26 times all over his body with a “twelve-inch serrated military style knife that has a seven-inch blade.” The knife was recovered from his body during the autopsy.

Following a brief visit to the hospital to treat a cut on his forehead, Czuba was taken to the Sheriff’s office for questioning. Though he refused to provide a statement, enough information was gathered during interviews and via evidence collected from the scene to formally charge him. He is still in custody.

"This horrific act of hate has no place in America," President Biden said in a statement, noting that Wadea and his mother “came to America seeking what we all seek - a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace."