Mother of slain Palestinian American boy testifies in landlord’s trail in suburban Chicago

JOLIET, Ill. — A suburban Chicago landlord took a knife from a belt holder and attacked a Palestinian American woman before stabbing her young son 26 times, prosecutors alleged Tuesday during opening statements in the trial for a 2023 murder and hate crime.

Joseph Czuba, 73, is charged in the death of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14, 2023. Authorities said the family was targeted because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, with Hamas’ attack on southern Israel.

Prosecutor Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors they’d hear an emotional 911 call and detailed witness testimony, and see police video and explicit crime scene photos as he described each of the stab wounds to the boy’s body.

“He could not escape,” Fitzgerald said facing jurors. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”

Czuba has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and other charges. He wore a suit and tie to court, his graying hair falling past his shoulders. He did not speak as he watched the proceedings.

Will County Public Defender Kylie Blatti urged jurors to consider each piece of evidence carefully because key parts were missing.

“Go beyond the emotions to carefully examine the evidence,” Blatti said during opening statements. “It is easy to get lost in the horror of those images.”

The family had been renting two rooms from Czuba and his wife, who also lived at the home where the stabbings happened in suburban Plainfield, nearly 40 miles from Chicago.

Shaheen was the first witness and recounted the events leading up to the attack. She said her family had not previously had any issues in the two years they had rented from the Czubas. They shared a kitchen and living room with the Czubas in the home.

World & Nation

Illinois man pleads not guilty to hate crime, murder charges in attack on Muslim mother and son

An Illinois man pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in an attack on a Palestinian American woman and her son.

Oct. 30, 2023

After the start of the war Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. She urged him to “Pray for peace.” Later, he confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.

“He told me ’You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who mainly testified in English but also had the assistance of an Arabic translator.

After the attack, Shaheen said was scared and locked herself in the bathroom, noting blood all over her body and the room. She called 911 when she heard her son screaming in another room.

“The landlord is killing me and my baby!” she screamed to the dispatcher multiple times, according to a recording of the call played in court. “He’s killing my baby in other room!”

Yelling could be heard in the background. As the roughly 15-minute recording played in court, Shaheen put her head down, clutching a tissue in her hand.

The boy was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.

The attack in Plainfield renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination in the Chicago area’s large and established Palestinian community. The proceedings also come amid rising hostility against Muslims and Palestinians in the U.S. since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.

Hundreds attended the boy’s janazah, or funeral service, where he was remembered as kind and into sports and Legos.

Separately, the boy’s father, who is divorced from Shaheen and did not live at the home, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. He attended the court proceedings Tuesday along with an uncle.

Shaheen has also retained prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who said she would not talk to reporters during the trial, which is expected to last about a week.

“Hanan Shaheen continues the unimaginable fight for justice for Wadee,” he said in a statement. “We have confidence in the prosecution’s efforts to earn justice for Wadee and Hanan.”

Tareen writes for the Associated Press.