Plainfield man charged with killing Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, wounding mother pleads not guilty

A Plainfield landlord charged with attacking a Palestinian American woman and killing her young son because of their Muslim faith has pled not guilty to all charges. 

Joseph Czuba, 71, stabbed a Palestinian American mother and her 6-year-old son, killing the boy, after blaming them for the war in the Middle East, state prosecutors said.

Appearing before a judge in Will County on Monday morning, Czuba pled not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime for the attack on Hanan Shaheen, 32, and her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6. 

Czuba was formally indicated on all eight counts last Thursday by an Ilinois grand jury.

“The murder was accompanied by exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty,” the indictment read.

Judge Donald W. DeWilkins ordered Czuba to remain jailed pending trial.

The 71-year-old landlord had become increasingly paranoid about what he was hearing on conservative talk radio concerning the war between Hamas and Israel, prosecutors said in a detention hearing earlier this month. 

Czuba’s wife told detectives that he “believed he was in danger and [his tenant, Shaheen] was going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them,” said Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney during the detention hearing. 

He was also worried about a “national day of jihad” Oct. 13, and even though nothing happened then, he told his wife that he believed something would happen the next day, without specifying what, Fitzgerald said.

Czuba’s wife told detectives that he regularly listened to conservative talk radio and was very interested in current events, Fitzgerald said.

The morning of Oct. 14, Czuba allegedly knocked on the family’s door and began arguing with Shaheen about the Middle East.

He stabbed Shaheen in the head and body, prosecutors said. She was able to get herself in a bathroom with a phone but was unable to bring her son with her. She called 911 and told a dispatcher that “the landlord is killing her baby with a knife,” Fitzgerald said.

Police entered the home in the 16200 block of South Lincoln Highway and found the boy lying shirtless on a bed, Fitzgerald said.

The boy had been stabbed 26 times, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.

Thousands attended funerals and vigils held for Al-Fayoume, who was remembered by family as an all-American kid who loved to play basketball and soccer.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.