On Oct. 26, 2023, Joseph Czuba, 71-year-old landlord of Plainfield Township was arrested for the serious injury of a mother, Hanaan Shahin, and the fatal stabbing of her 6-year-old son, Wadee Alfayoumi.

Last week, Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, battery, and a hate crime. According to ABC 7 News, “ Prosecutors said Alfayoumi was stabbed 26 times. His mother, Hanaan Shahin was stabbed at least a dozen times. Czuba is accused of attacking the two because of their Palestinian origin. He is said, according to prosecutors, to have told Shahin three days before he attacked her that “he was blaming her, not her personally, but because she was Muslim, with what was happening in the Middle East.”

Wadee’s father, Odai Alfayoumi, told ABC that he wanted to clarify, “…my son is not Palestinian…he died because he’s Muslim.”

  On Oct. 30, 2023,  Czuba appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to all charges. His attornies fought that he should be free “given that he has no criminal history before this incident and the fact that he is a veteran,” but the judge denied it for the safety of the victim and the rest of the community. Czuba is still detained and awaits his pre-trial on Jan. 8, 2024.

Many have turned to President Joe Biden to blame as he has been intent on pushing a pro-Israel message on Americans. Despite this, he has made it clear in statements that this is still not reason to spread hate and target Palestinians and supporters alike.

The boy’s father has recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit with claims that the property management company “failed to recognize a threat.”