An Illinois man sentenced to 53 years in prison for the murder of a young Palestinian American boy in a 2023 hate crime that shocked the nation died in prison on Saturday, according to authorities.
Joseph Czuba, 73, died Thursday while serving his sentence, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriff’s Office. Officials did not reveal the cause of death.
Czuba was convicted in February of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, and hate crimes for fatally stabbing 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and injuring the boy’s mother just days after Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
According to authorities, Czuba targeted the boy’s family “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.” The mother and son were living in a room rented from Czuba’s home in Plainfield Township, a Chicago suburb.
According to officials, Czuba stabbed the young boy 26 times and attacked his mother, Hanan Shaheen, critically injuring her with 12 stab wounds.
Czuba was sentenced to 53 years in prison for killing Wadee and assaulting Shaheen after pleading not guilty.
Shaheen, who moved to the United States from the West Bank as a teenager nearly 15 years ago, testified that in the days leading up to the stabbings, Czuba told her that “your people” were killing Jews. Czuba also demanded that she and her son leave his home, she said.
She also stated that she and her son had no prior issues with Czuba during the roughly two years they lived in the house, where they shared a kitchen and living room with Czuba and his then-wife.
On the day of the attacks, she claimed that Czuba barged into her room, held her down, and stabbed her over a dozen times. She claimed that Czuba once put his fingers in her mouth and attempted to break her teeth. Throughout the encounter, Shaheen stated that she pulled on Czuba’s hair while he yelled, “You must die!”
Shaheen testified that her son stood in the corner of the room and watched the encounter with fear.
Czuba assured the young boy, “Wadee, I will take care of you. Shaheen said, “I will raise you,” and, “Don’t tell people I killed your mom,” as he stabbed his mother.
Shaheen claimed she then fled to the bathroom and called 911 while hearing Czuba stab her son.
“He is killing my baby,” she repeatedly told the dispatcher, according to a 911 call recording played during the trial.
An attorney for Shaheen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The boy’s father said on Saturday that Czuba’s death gave him no satisfaction.
“My son has gone. “The justice is that I need my son back,” Oday Al Fayoume stated in his first public comments. “This is the only justice for me. Nobody can give me that.
He claimed Czuba got off easy after serving only five months of his 53-year sentence. “He killed my son,” Al Fayoume said, adding that Czuba’s actions may encourage more people to attack Palestinians across the United States.
Wadee’s murder stunned the nation and sparked national outrage at a time when tensions between the country’s Muslim and Jewish communities were rising following the Oct. 7 attacks.
Then-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the killing, saying, “This horrific act of hate has no place in America.”
“The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek — a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,” he said.
Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office, said in a statement on Saturday that “this depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well.”
