Wadea Al-Fayoume.Photo:CAIR National/X
CAIR National/X
An Illinois man has been convicted of murder and a hate crime for killing his 6-year-old Palestinian American tenant in 2023, days after theOct. 7 Hamas attackin Israel, theAssociated Pressreports.
After being stabbed, when Shaheen tried to call 911 from the bathroom, Czuba attacked Wadea, per her testimony,NBC ChicagoandABC 7 Chicagoreported. She told the jury that she could hear the child scream “oh no, stop!” as Czuba stabbed him, perABC 7 ChicagoandNBC News.
During the trial, prosecutors said the child had been found naked with the knife still inside after he had been stabbed 26 times, per AP.
“If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, said in court during opening statements, per AP.
The jury also heard a recorded conversation between Czuba and an officer where the landlord is heard referring to Wadea and his mother as “infested rats,” NBC News reported.
Shaheen alleged Czuba told her following the Oct. 7 attack that she and her son had to leave the residence.
“He told me, ’You, as a Muslim, must die,” she testified in court, per AP.
Joseph Czuba.Will County Sheriffs Office
Will County Sheriffs Office
Czuba was also found guilty of attempted murder, perNBC Chicago. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced.
His defense attorneys argued in court that the investigation was missing key pieces of evidence, AP reported. They claimed Czuba’s ex-wife, who testified on behalf of the prosecution, could only recount one outburst in their three-decade long marriage.
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A date for the sentencing has not been set.
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source: people.com
