Joseph Czuba, 73, faces first-degree murder, attempted murder and hate crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen, in October 2023 in suburban Chicago.
A harrowing 911 call, disturbing police videos and other crime scene evidence are expected to play a key role as the murder and hate crime trial continues Wednesday for an Illinois landlord accused of killing a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in 2023.
“This happened because this defendant was afraid that a war that had started on Oct. 7, 2023, a half a world away in the Middle East was going to come to his doorstep,” said Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney.
The family was renting two rooms from Czuba and his wife, who also lived at the single-family home where the murder killing in Plainfield, nearly 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Chicago.
During opening statements Tuesday, prosecutors described how Czuba allegedly pulled a knife from a belt holder and stabbed the child 26 times after attacking his mother.
