Man sentenced to 53 years in prison for hate crime that left 6-year-old Palestinian American boy dead

An Illinois landlord was sentenced years in prison Friday for the murder of -year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of the boy s mother in October an attack a jury identified to be a hate crime spurred by the war in Gaza Given his age Joseph Czuba will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars under the sentence imposed by Judge Amy M Bertani-Tomczak A Will County jury in Illinois deliberated for just over an hour in February before finding him guilty of fatally stabbing Wadee a Palestinian-American kindergartener The panel also convicted Czuba of attacking his mother Hanan Shaheen and committing hate crimes Just before noon Wadee s grandfather Mahmoud Yousef walked slowly to the lectern to address the judge He had not prepared a message in advance in part because there s nothing too much you can say He thanked the police the attorneys and others who had been part of the incident He then took a deep breath It s not easy he reported He thanked Plainfield for standing up against the hate crimes No matter what the sentence is going to be it s not going to be justified for us he explained Yousef turned around to face Czuba Wadee s parents had plans and dreams for him from the moment he was born he explained Mr Joseph had no right to take it he mentioned We want to know what made him do this What type of news did he hear on the TV or radio that made him do such an unheard sic crime that is more than just hate We are talking about a -year-old kid He turned again to look at Czuba We need to know he announced We deserve for Mr Joseph to explain his acts One stab was not enough Give the father that peace of mind who had all the plans for his future He turned back around Mr Joseph say something he revealed Czuba mentioned nothing Odai Alfayoumi arrives at a press conference after Joseph Czuba was uncovered guilty on all charges in the hate crime murder of his six-year-old son Wadee Alfayoumi at the Will County Courthouse on Feb E Jason Wambsgans Chicago Tribune Family and supporters of Wadee Alfayoumi listen during a press conference after a jury exposed Joseph Czuba guilty on all charges in the hate crime murder of the Plainfield six-year-old at the Will County Courthouse on Feb E Jason Wambsgans Chicago Tribune Heena Musabji right legal director at CAIR-Chicago reacts after Joseph Czuba was ascertained guilty on all charges in the hate crime murder of Wadee Alfayoumi at the Will County Courthouse on Feb E Jason Wambsgans Chicago Tribune Odai Alfayoumi discusses the verdict after Joseph Czuba was exposed guilty on all charges in the hate crime murder of his six-year-old son Wadee Alfayoumi at the Will County Courthouse on Feb E Jason Wambsgans Chicago Tribune Family and supporters of Wadee Alfayoumi hold Friday prayers outside the Will County Courthouse before a jury determined Joseph Czuba guilty on all charges in the hate crime murder of the Plainfield six-year-old Feb E Jason Wambsgans Chicago Tribune Odai Alfayoumi left is greeted by Ahmed Rehab executive director of CAIR-Chicago after Joseph Czuba was identified guilty Feb on all charges in the hate crime murder of Alfayoumi s -year-old son Wadee Alfayoumi E Jason Wambsgans Chicago Tribune Wadee Alfayoumi s father Odai Alfayoumi looks at a photo of his son during a vigil at Prairie Activity and Recreation Center in Plainfield on Oct Nam Y Huh AP Items are displayed at the corner of South Lincoln Highway and Lily Cache Road in memorial of Wadee Alfayoumi near his Plainfield Township home on Oct Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune Mahmoud Yousef second from left comforts Odai Alfayoumi after the burial of Alfayoumi s son Wadee Alfayoumi at Parkholm Cemetery in La Grange Park on Oct Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune People sprinkle flower petals on the gravesite of Wadee Alfayoumi after his burial at Parkholm Cemetery Oct Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune People attend a candlelight vigil for Wadee Alfayoumi in Oak Brook on Oct Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune People attend a vigil in memory of Wadee Alfayoumi outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet before Joseph Czuba s court appearance Jan Antonio Perez Chicago Tribune Family members friends and supporters attend a vigil for Wadee Alfayoumi outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet Jan Antonio Perez Chicago Tribune Show Caption of Odai Alfayoumi arrives at a press conference after Joseph Czuba was uncovered guilty on all charges in the hate crime murder of his six-year-old son Wadee Alfayoumi at the Will County Courthouse on Feb E Jason Wambsgans Chicago Tribune Expand Outside the fourth-floor courtroom after Bertani-Tomczak delivered the sentence Yousef stated he and Wadee s father Odai Alfayoumi were disappointed that Czuba declined to speak We were hoping he was going to say something he noted This sentence is justice for the type of murder but it s not justice for us The sentencing is a somber conclusion to a occurrence that drew national attention to spiking Islamophobia against Palestinians and Muslims in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war The war broke out about a week before Czuba attacked the boy and his mother in the home they shared with him and his wife in Plainfield Township Czuba s wife who was not home at the time of the attacks divorced him after his arrest and testified against him at trial Wadee spent the last morning of his life eating breakfast helping his mother change the sheets on their beds and playing an educational cell phone tournament according to his mother s testimony Then Czuba knocked on the door and pushed Shaheen when she opened it Shaheen testified during the trial that she supposed she was dying during the attack and locked herself in the bathroom to tell a dispatcher Czuba is killing my baby with a knife as her son screamed in the next room The last words she heard him say were oh no Administration identified the -pound kindergartener lying on a bed with stab wounds Czuba had left the knife in his body Former President Joseph R Biden named Wadee in a national address weeks after the war broke out calling the boy a proud American and exhorting listeners not to stand by and stand silent when they witnessed Islamaphobic and anti-semitic behavior which rose following the war s outbreak Advocates hailed Czuba s conviction as a welcome expected punctuation to a occurrence so wrenching it brought police to tears on the witness stand But still they warned Wadee s life and death proved the deadly consequences of hate-filled rhetoric Though Wadee and his mother had lived with Czuba and his wife as tenants for nearly two years when the war began Czuba only became hostile to them after becoming heavily interested in the war telling Shaheen that her people were killing Jews and babies and likening his tenants to infested rats shortly after he was arrested Shaheen testified that she had no issues with Czuba until the Israel-Hamas war began After the Oct attacks he grew angry with her because she was Muslim and was from Jerusalem she commented She mentioned Czuba notified her Muslims are not welcome here He demanded she move out of the home Shaheen advised jurors Czuba who also withdrew from the bank in development financial systems were affected by the war noted he needed to rent her rooms to a friend Shaheen announced she assured him she was looking for a place She also notified him to pray for peace The home where Joseph Czuba allegedly stabbed -year-old Wadee Alfayoumi to death and seriously injured his mother Hanan Shaheen on Oct in Plainfield Armando L Sanchez Chicago Tribune On Oct Czuba knocked on Shaheen s door and physically pushed her after she answered she disclosed I recounted you to move out of my home Czuba communicated her Shaheen testified adding he was screaming about the war She stated he also climbed on top of her and tried to strangle her He stabbed her multiple times in the chest mouth neck across her cheek and near her eye according to administration At one point Shaheen testified Czuba explained Wadee that Czuba and his wife would raise him but that he could never tell anyone that Czuba killed his mom Shaheen stated she fought back during the attack but deduced she was dying She wasn t seeing clearly and was swallowing blood she announced She was able to lock herself in the bathroom and call That s when he began attacking Wadee she explained He s killing my baby with a knife Shaheen recounted the dispatcher according to a recording played in court Odai Alfayoumi and others carry the casket of his six-year-old son Wadee Alfayoumi to the burial at Parkholm Cemetery in La Grange Park on Oct Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune After Czuba attacked Shaheen he turned his anger towards Wadee prosecutors revealed stabbing him times and leaving the knife with its -inch blade in his body Police testified they located Czuba lying on the ground in the yard After his arrest Czuba was captured on a police camera saying Wadee and Shaheen made him fear for his life I begged her to get out for three days Czuba says on the recording She would not leave Before the sentencing Czuba s defense attorney George Lenard requested for a new trial objecting to what he described as prejudicial comments by prosecutors to the jury during rebuttal arguments that he alleged appealed to jurors sympathy He referenced emotionally charged testimony and evidence including a photograph of Wadee upon discovery by Will County Sheriff s deputies When that photograph of Wadee was shown to the jury one of the jurors became visibly emotional and started crying he noted That juror he commented was the foreman of the panel Bertani-Tomzack denied the motion Even considering your claimed errors the strength of the evidence that was presented in the courtroom makes the difference she stated Wadee loved basketball soccer and Legos according to his family I will invariably remember him with pride Wadee s father s mentioned