Joliet, Ill. – An owner of Illinois declared guilty of a vicious hate crime that left a 6 -year -old Muslim boy dead and wounded his mother days after the beginning of the War in Gaza In 2023 it was due to the court on Friday by the sentence.
A jury condemned Joseph Czuba, 73, in February for positions of murder and hate crime for fatal stabbing of Continue Alfayoumiwho was American Palestinian and his mother’s wound, The Shahaen tap. The family had been renting rooms at Czuba’s house in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) in Chicago, in 2023 when the attack occurred.
Central to the case of prosecutors was heartbreaking testimony From the child’s mother, who said that Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting that they had to leave because they were Muslims. Prosecutors also played the call to 911 and showed police images. Czuba’s wife, Mary, whom he has divorced since then, also testified the prosecution, saying that he had agitated about him Israel-Hamas Warthat had exploded days before.
Police said Czuba took a knife from a support in a belt and stabbed the child 26 times, leaving the knife in the child’s body. Some of the bloody photos of the crime scene were so explicit that the judge agreed to move away the television screens that showed them away from the audience, which included Wadee’s relatives.
“He could not escape,” said Michael Fitzgerald, a assistant lawyer for Will, to the jurors in the trial. “If it were not enough for this defendant to kill that child, he left the knife in the child’s body.”
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict. CZUBA is eligible for a minimal prison sentence from 20 to 60 years or life, according to the office of the state of the state of Will.
Prosecutors declined to comment before Friday’s hearing and have not said what sentence they will seek. Illinois does not have the death penalty.
The attack renewed the fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly in the suburbs of Plainfield and the surroundings, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee’s funeral attracted large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park park in their honor.
Czuba did not speak during the trial. His defense lawyers argued that there were holes in the case. His public defender, George Lenard, has not addressed journalists and has rejected comments before the sentence.
Shaheen had more than a dozen white weapon wounds And he took it weeks to recover.
She said there were no previous problems in the two years she rented to the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room.
Then, after the beginning of the war, Czuba told him that they had to move because the Muslims were not welcome. Later he faced Shaheen and attacked her, sustained her, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.
“He told me ‘that you, as a Muslim, must die,” said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic through a translator.
The police testified that the officers found Czuba out of the house, sitting on the floor with blood in their body and hands.
Separately, civil lawsuits have been filed for the child’s death, even for his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who divorces Shaheen and did not live with them. The United States Department of Justice also launched a federal investigation of hate crimes.
