‘He's killing my baby': Palestinian-American boy's mother testifies at hate crime murder trial

Chicago Tribune

26-02-2025

On the final day of his life, 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi ate breakfast with mother, helped her change the sheets on their beds and played an educational game on a cell phone.
The kindergartener was getting ready to take a shower when their landlord knocked on the door, his mother Hanan Shaheen testified Tuesday.
In the moments that followed, Joseph Czuba – who owned the home in unincorporated Plainfield where the family rented two bedrooms – charged at Shaheen and stabbed her with a knife, she testified. She said he screamed during the rampage about the war between Israel and Hamas.
And when Shaheen was able to get away and lock herself in the bathroom, Czuba turned his anger on Wadee and killed him, she said.
Shaheen offered the heart-wrenching testimony on the first day of Czuba's murder trial, painting a portrait of her son as a typical American boy who was violently attacked because of his ethnicity and hostilities happening half-a-world away.
Wadee, who had recently celebrated a birthday, was stabbed 26 times on Oct. 14, 2023. Prosecutors say the slaying was fueled by Czuba's prejudice against Palestinians and his anger over the Hamas attacks on Israel a week earlier.
Czuba, 73, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime. If convicted, he could face life in prison without parole.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In October 2023, Wadee's death heightened concerns about anti-Muslin discrimination in the Chicago area amid the then-escalating Israel and Hamas war. Illinois also has more Muslims per capita than any other state in the United States due in large part to the more than 85,000 Palestinians who live in Cook County.
Shaheen testified she had no issues with Czuba until the war began. After the Oct. 7 attacks, he grew angry with her because she was Muslim and was from Jerusalem, she said.
She said Czuba told her 'Muslims are not welcome here' and that 'your people' are killing Jews and babies.
He demanded she move out of the home, Shaheen told jurors. Czuba, who also lived in the house with his wife, said he needed to rent her rooms to a friend.
Shaheen said she assured him she was looking for a place. She also told him to 'pray for peace.'
On Oct. 14, Czuba knocked on Shaheen's door and physically pushed her after she answered.
'I told you to move out of my home,' Shaheen recalled Czuba telling her, adding that Czuba was screaming about the war.
'I'm not expecting him to push me,' she said.
Using an Arabic language interpreter sporadically throughout her testimony, Shaheen detailed the attack for the jury. She said Czuba put his fingers in her mouth, 'trying to break my teeth.'
She said he also climbed on top of her and attempted to strangle her. He stabbed her multiple times in the chest, mouth, neck, across her cheek and near her eye, according to authorities.
At one point, Shaheen testified that Czuba told Wadee that he and his wife would raise him but he could never tell anyone that he killed his mom.
Shaheen said she fought back during the attack but believed she was dying. She wasn't seeing clearly and was swallowing blood, she said.
She was able to lock herself in the bathroom and call 911. That's when he began attacking Wadee, she said.
'He's killing my baby with a knife,' Shaheen told the dispatcher, according to a recording played in court.
Shaheen repeated her address multiple times during the call and named Joseph Czuba as the attacker, according to the recording. She said she could hear her son screaming.
The dispatcher advised her that police were on the way.
Prosecutors played body camera videos from the three Plainfield and Will County officers who first arrived at the scene during the first day of testimony. The recordings showed them escorting a bleeding Shaheen out of the home towards a stretcher.
Will County Sheriff's Deputy Victoria Janovyak wept on the stand as she testified about discovering Wadee's body lying on the bed with a knife sticking out of his torso. Her body camera video was shown only to the jury.
Czuba stabbed Wadee in the neck, shoulder, chest, hand and abdomen, assistant Will County State's Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said during his opening statement.
'He left the knife in the little boy's body,' Fitzgerald said.
Prosecutors also showed the jury photos of Shaheen with multiple wounds on her face and chest as she lay in the hospital.
During cross-examination, defense attorney George Lenard asked Shaheen about conversations she had with police during her hospital stay after the attack.
Shaheen responded that she doesn't remember the exact day, time and words that were exchanged with police, but that they came to her hospital room and she answered their questions.
Lenard noted Shaheen has filed a civil lawsuit against Czuba seeking monetary damages and the civil case has been delayed until the criminal case is resolved.
Shaheen said she knew her appearance during the criminal trial was important for her to seek justice for Wadee.
In opening statements, Fitzgerald told the jury that Czuba – who called Shaheen and Wadee 'infested rats' – believed a war taking place in the Middle East was going to come to his doorstep. Fitzgerald promised the jury that he would prove this during trial with testimony from police, paramedics, medical personnel and DNA analysts.
In response, Czuba's defense attorney Kylie Blatti told the jury that while prosecutors will show difficult images that provoke visceral emotions, the prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Czuba is guilty.
Blatti said that there are holes in the state's case and assumptions cannot be made.
She also accused police of assuming Czuba was guilty from the moment they arrived at the home and found him outside.
She urged the jury to set aside any emotions and pay attention to the evidence that is missing in the case.