Man Convicted in Hate-Fueled Killing of Muslim Child Dies in Prison

IQNA – Joseph Czuba, a 73-year-old man convicted in the 2023 hate-motivated killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois, has died while serving his prison sentence.

According to Will County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Dan Jungles, the sheriff’s office was informed of Czuba’s death by the Illinois Department of Corrections.

“I’m told he died yesterday but I do not have any details on it,” Jungles said in a statement to The Herald-News.

Czuba had been sentenced in May to 53 years in prison after being found guilty of the October 14, 2023, murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of the boy’s mother, Hanan Shaheen.

The sentence included 30 years for Wadee’s murder, 20 years for the attempted killing of Shaheen, and an additional three years for committing a hate crime. Prosecutors said the attack was motivated by the victims’ Muslim faith.

During the trial, Shaheen testified that Czuba, her landlord, had confronted her with hostile remarks about Islam before the attack. She recalled him saying, “You, as a Muslim, must die,” before stabbing her multiple times. He then turned on her son, Wadee, stabbing him 26 times and leaving the knife in the child’s body.

Shaheen survived the attack after weeks of medical care, but her son succumbed to his injuries. Police later found Czuba outside the home with bloodstained clothing and hands.

The killing shocked the local Palestinian and Muslim communities. Wadee’s funeral was attended by many, and a playground in a nearby park was later named in his honor.

The case highlighted growing concerns over hate-fueled violence. According to advocacy groups, attacks against Muslims have been on the rise in the United States in recent years. Wadee’s death became one of the most widely reported cases of anti-Muslim violence in 2023.

Source: Agencies