Joseph Czuba, Convicted in Fatal Hate Crime Against Palestinian-American Boy, Dies in Illinois Prison
Joseph Czuba, Convicted in Fatal Hate Crime Against Palestinian-American Boy, Dies in Illinois Prison
Joseph Czuba, the 73-year-old landlord convicted of the brutal 2023 hate crime murder of six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadee Alfayoumi and the critical injury of his mother, has died in prison. Czuba passed away on Thursday while in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Czuba’s death on Saturday, citing the Will County Sheriff’s Office. His conviction stemmed from the horrific October 14, 2023, attack in Plainfield, Illinois, where he stabbed Alfayoumi 26 times and wounded his mother, Hanan Shaheen. Prosecutors established that Czuba targeted the family because they were Muslim, in a crime widely seen as one of the most egregious hate incidents in the U.S. following the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Just three months prior to his death, Czuba had been sentenced to 53 years in prison after being found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder, and hate-crime charges. The trial featured harrowing testimony from Shaheen and vivid crime scene evidence.
Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office, commented on Saturday, stating, “this depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well,” underscoring the ongoing concerns about rising hostility against Muslim and Palestinian communities in the U.S.
The case garnered international attention and deeply impacted the Chicago area’s large Palestinian community, highlighting the severe consequences of hate-motivated violence.
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