Joseph Czuba fatally stabbed 6-year-old Palestinian boy after listening to conservative radio and becoming worried about personal safety, prosecutors say - Chicago Sun-Times

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Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, was stabbed to death Saturday in Plainfield Township. His mother was badly wounded. Police say the suspect made anti-Muslim statements during the attack. The victims are Palestinian Americans.

Prosecutors say a Plainfield man had been listening to conservative talk radio about the Israel-Hamas war and became increasingly concerned about his Muslim tenants before he confronted them on Saturday, fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and badly wounding his mother.

Joseph Czuba, 71, appeared in Will County court Monday morning in a red jumpsuit and with matted hair, two days after he allegedly attacked the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen, and killed her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume.

Judge Donald W. DeWilkins ordered Czuba held in jail while he faces three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of hate crime.

In the 45-minute hearing, prosecutors explained how Czuba became increasingly concerned about his safety while listening to media about the Israel-Hamas war before violently attacking his Muslim tenants.

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

Prosecutors and his assistant public defender did not provide any evidence backing up Czuba's concerns about his tenants.

Czuba's wife told detectives that he had taken out $1,000 from his bank because he believed "the grid" would go down, Fitzgerald said.

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

Shaheen told detectives that Saturday morning began peacefully as she had breakfast with her son, Fitzgerald said. Czuba then allegedly knocked on their door and began arguing with Shaheen about the Middle East.

Shaheen told Czuba, "Let's give peace a chance," then he attacked her with a blade, Fitzgerald said.

"She said he didn't giver her a chance," Fitzgerald said.

Shaheen defended herself, then locked herself in a bathroom with a phone, but was unable to bring her son with her, Fitzgerald said. 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, lying on his back, had several stab wounds and a knife penetrating 4 inches on the side of his abdomen, Fitzgerald said.

Officers found Czuba in the backyard, lying on his back, with a laceration to his face, Fitzgerald said. He was wearing a knife holster on his belt, and there were several pocket knives on the ground near his feet, he said.

Czuba's wife was not at home at the time of the attack, Fitzgerald said.

Shaheen told detectives that "Czuba is an angry man, but on day in question he came to house and said he was angry at her for what was happening at Jerusalem," Fitzgerald said.

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Shahin was in serious condition at a nearby hospital.

The mother and child were both Palestinian American, Rehab said. The mother has been in the U.S. for 12 years, and the boy was born in the United States. He celebrated his 6th birthday Oct. 6.

Rehab said the boy loved basketball, soccer and "anything with a ball." He liked playing on the swings and coloring.

"He loved his family and friends, he loved life," Rehab said.

The boy's father, Oday Al-Fayoume, spoke briefly in Arabic at a CAIR news conference on Sunday. "Gratitude to God in any situation," he said as Rehab translated.

Rehab said he viewed text messages from the boy's mother to the boy's father saying that Czuba knocked on their door Saturday morning and attacked her and made anti-Muslim statements. The texts said she went into the bathroom, dialed 911, and when she came out, she found her son with multiple stab wounds, Rehab said.

"It all happened in seconds," she texted.

The text messages were not mentioned during the detention hearing.

Rehab said Czuba had built a treehouse for the child, and the family had no previous problems with him.

"I ask you, what level of hate, blind hatred, could cause such an act?" Rehab asked.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department has opened a hate investigation into the attack. "I am heartbroken by the abhorrent killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume," he said. The FBI office in Chicago said it was working with Will County authorities.

"Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the Will County Sheriff's Department said.