A jury in Illinois began deliberations on Friday in the criminal trial of a landlord charged for the brutal 2023 attack on a Palestinian American family that killed a 6-year-old and wounded his mother. Closing arguments concluded just before noon in the trial of Joseph Czuba, 73, and the case went to the jury.
Czuba faces murder and hate crime charges in the fatal stabbing of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen on Oct. 14, 2023 in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago. Authorities alleged the family — who were renting rooms in Czuba's house — was targeted because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.
The crime renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination in the Chicago area’s large and established Palestinian community. Czuba has pleaded not guilty. He faces murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crime charges in an eight-count indictment.
The trial featured detailed testimony from police officers, medical workers, Czuba’s ex-wife and Shaheen, who described how Czuba attacked her with a knife before going after her son in a different room. Prosecutors say that the child, recently 6, had been stabbed 26 times. He was found naked with a knife still in his side.
Graphic photos of the murder, a knife holder Czuba allegedly used that day, along with police video footage were central to the Will County prosecutors’ case. At times video screens showing explicit footage were put up on a television screen turned toward jurors and away from public seating, which included Wadee’s father and reporters. His father, Odai Alfayoumi, is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them at the house.
