Illinois man guilty of hate crime murder of Palestinian-American boy

An Illinois man has been found guilty of murder after stabbing a six-year-old boy 26 times in an attack prosecutors say was sparked by anti-Muslim hatred.

Wadee al Fayoume, a Palestinian-American, died in hospital after he was attacked with a "military-style" knife on 16 October 2023.

The killing - carried out by 73-year-old Joseph Czuba - took place days after the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel and was one of the earliest and worst hate crimes in the US since the start of the Israel-Gaza war.

His mother, Hanan Shaheen, was also left severely wounded.

Czuba was the landlord for Ms Shaheen and her son, and attacked the young child with a 7-inch (18cm) serrated blade.

During the trial, Ms Shaheen testified that Czuba told her: "You, as a Muslim, must die."

A 911 call, played during the trial, heard Ms Shaheen say: "The landlord is killing me and my baby."

Czuba's ex-wife, Mary Connor, testified that in the week leading up to the stabbings, Czuba had been outraged about the war between Israel and Hamas. Prior to this, both had a good relationship with Ms Shaheen, who Ms Connor said she considered a friend and good tenant.

"Hanan needs to move because her friends could come and do us harm," Ms Connor testified Czuba had told her in the wake of the October 7 attack.

Ms Connor said she believed they should adhere to Ms Shaheen's lease and give her 30 days to move.

She said Czuba also talked of an upcoming "day of jihad" and withdrew $1,000 from his bank account because of fears the US banking system would fail.

Jury deliberates for just over an hour

Ms Shaheen said he began speaking hatefully about Muslims, telling her "your people" were killing Jewish people and babies and saying she needed to move out.

Days later, he forced his way into her room, held her down and stabbed her with a knife as he tried to break her teeth, according to Sky's US partner NBC News.

She grabbed the knife and managed to stab Czuba before he grabbed it back. She then went into the bathroom to call the police, as Czuba moved onto Wade, who had just celebrated his birthday.

She could hear him shouting: "Oh no, stop!"

She had locked the door and did not leave the bathroom until police were outside the door.

Czuba had pleaded not guilty and did not testify during the trial. The jury deliberated for just over an hour before finding him guilty.

A senseless loss

Wadee's father, Odai Alfayoumi, said after the verdict: "I don't know if I should be pleased or upset, if I should be crying or laughing.

"People are telling me to smile. Maybe if I were one of you, I would be smiling. But I'm the father of the child, and I've lost a child."

He added: "I pray that this loss, this senseless loss, is the last that we will see, that no child would suffer what my beloved little Wadee had to go through."

Civil rights advocates have warned of both rising Islamophobia and anti-semitism in the US since October 2023.

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Other incidents include the attempted drowning of a Palestinian toddler, aged three, in Texas, the stabbing of a Palestinian-American man in Texas and a violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters in California.

Incidents raising alarm over anti-semitism include threats of violence against Jews at Cornell University that led to a conviction and sentencing, an unsuccessful plot to attack a New York Jewish centre, and physical assaults against a Jewish man in Michigan, a rabbi in Maryland and two Jewish students in Chicago."

(c) Sky News 2025: Illinois man guilty of hate crime murder of Palestinian-American boy