PLAINFIELD, Illinois — An Illinois landlord, Joseph Czuba, who was convicted of the hate crime murder of his six-year-old Palestinian-American tenant, Wadea al-Fayoume, has died while in custody.
Czuba was sentenced in May to 53 years in prison for al-Fayoume’s murder and the severe wounding and attempted murder of his mother, Hanaan Shaheen, in 2023.
Authorities indicated that the landlord specifically targeted the mother and son due to their Islamic faith, shortly after the commencement of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Czuba’s death occurred at the Illinois Department of Corrections on Thursday, as confirmed by the Will County Sheriff’s Office.
Serving less than three months of his decades-long sentence, Czuba passed away at the age of 73 from an currently unknown cause.
The family had been renting rooms from Czuba in Plainfield, approximately 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago, when the brutal attack took place.
Police reported that Czuba stabbed al-Fayoume 26 times, and the young boy later succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
Czuba was convicted on multiple charges, including two counts of hate crime, one count of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and two counts of aggravated battery.
During the trial, al-Fayoume’s mother testified that Czuba had first attacked her with a knife before turning on her son, reportedly telling her, “you, as a Muslim, must die,” according to Reuters.
She was unable to attend her son’s funeral as she was recovering in the hospital from the injuries sustained in the assault.
Some of the crime scene footage presented during the trial was so graphic that the judge agreed to restrict its viewing from audience members, which included al-Fayoume’s family.
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Jurors reached a verdict in less than 90 minutes in a case that garnered nationwide attention across the United States and reignited fears concerning anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian discrimination.
Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office, released a statement following Czuba’s death, emphasizing that while “this depraved killer has died, the hate is still alive and well.”
A memorial dedicated to Wadea al-Fayoume was unveiled at a playground in Plainfield in June. The city is home to a sizable and well-established Palestinian community.
