Joseph Czuba, the man charged with a hate crime in the Plainfield killing of Wadee Al Fayoume, a 6-year-old Muslim boy, appeared in court on Wednesday, NBC Chicago’s Courtney Sisk reports.
Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.
A suburban Chicago landlord will go on trial starting Monday for allegedly killing a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and injuring his mother in an attack law enforcement described as a hate crime.
Joseph Czuba was charged with murder, attempted murder, hate crimes and aggravated battery in the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the wounding of his mother, Hanaan Shahin, on Oct. 14, 2023, in Plainfield Township, Illinois. Czuba pleaded not guilty following his indictment later that month.
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WATCH HEREAt a hearing on Thursday, Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak ruled on a pre-trial motion, allowing statements Czuba made in a police vehicle with a Will County Sheriff's sergeant after the alleged attack to be admitted as evidence.
While Czuba was not expressly given a Miranda warning – Bertani-Tomczak said he was not expressly questioned by the sergeant – Czuba told the sergeant he was “afraid for his life and thought she would do Jihad” on him. At that point, the sergeant tried to stop him and change the subject.
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SIGN UP Prosecutors have said Czuba, the family's landlord, targeted the mother and son because of their Muslim faith amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Shanin previously told authorities Czuba attacked her with a serrated knife that had a seven-inch blade “over the conflict in Jerusalem” and that days before the stabbing, Czuba confronted her about what was going on in the Middle East, according to court documents. Jury selection is set to begin Monday morning as the trial gets underway.
