The heartbroken father of a six-year-old Palestinian boy stabbed to death by his landlord in a hate-crime fueled by the Hamas-Israel war has revealed that his brave son’s final words were ‘I’m fine.’
Wadea Al-Fayoume, six, was killed on Sunday, allegedly by landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, who was renting the family a room in his home in Plainfield, Illinois.
The boy’s mother, Hanan Shaheen, survived the attack and told police later how Czuba appeared at their door spouting hateful, anti-Muslim slurs.
He tried to choke Shaheen, who fled inside and called 911, then produced a knife on the mother and son. He plunged the serrated, military-style weapon into Shaheen more than a dozen times, and stabbed the boy 26 times.
Czuba was arrested outside the house.
Wadea’s father, Oday Al-Fayoume, has spoken out, explaining that his son and ex-wife knew the landlord and had even shared a ‘good relationship’ with him before the horrific attack.
‘It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son,’ he said.
‘I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug.’
Wadea Al-Fayoume had recently turned six. He was killed in a crime which authorities believe was influenced by the Israel-Hamas war
Police charged 71-year-old suburban Chicago man Joseph M. Czuba (pictured) Sunday with a hate crime for allegedly fatally stabbing 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume
Wadea’s father, Oday Al-Fayoume, (pictured, wearing white sweater) has spoken out, explaining that his son and ex-wife knew the landlord
Paying tribute to his young son, Oday told The Daily Beast that Wadea was ‘basically a small angel in the form of a person’.
Wadea’s mom, identified as 32-year-old Hanaan Shahin, suffered more than a dozen stab wounds. She remains hospitalized Sunday but is expected to survive.
Authorities did not release the names of the two victims, but the boy’s paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference on Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
‘We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans, because this is what we are,’ said Hannon, a Palestinian American who emigrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher.
The landlord was renting a room to the family in his home in Plainfield, Illinois. On Sunday, he first attacked the mother by trying to choke her, then stabbed her and her son
There are a number of American flags, pro-police and religious signs outside the house
Officers found Wadea and his mother late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, roughly 40 miles southwest of Chicago.
Czuba was found Saturday outside ‘sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence’ with a cut on his forehead, according to police in Will County.
He was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Wadea, who had recently turned six, and his mother had lived on the ground floor of the house for two years, according to the the local chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Speaking alongside the family members of the victims, CAIR Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said Czuba choked Shahin after they had allowed him into their apartment.
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According to the Will County sheriff’s office, she called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding that she ran into the bathroom and continued to fight him off.
Paying tribute to his young son, Oday told The Daily Beast that Wadea was ‘basically a small angel in the form of a person’
Speaking alongside the family members of the victims, CAIR Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said Czuba choked Shahin after they’d allowed him in their apartment
Citing text messages from the mother to the boy’s father, the suspect reportedly yelled, ‘You Muslims must die!’ ahead of the stabbing, according to CAIR-Chicago.
The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime ‘our worst nightmare,’ and part of a disturbing trend since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East.
In response to the increased threats, the Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law-enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to a press release from Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker.
‘To take a six-year-old child’s life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil,’ Pritzker said.
‘Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son.
‘This wasn’t just a murder – it was a hate crime. And every single Illinoisan – including our Muslim, Jewish, and Palestinian neighbors – deserves to live free from the threat of such evil.’
The Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted to social media: ‘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 Justice Department opened a hate crime investigation into the events leading up to the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
President Joe Biden commented on the boy’s death, saying in a statement: ‘This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.’
He later wrote on X about he and his wife’s reaction at hearing the news.
‘Jill and I were sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother yesterday in Illinois.
‘Our condolences and prayers are with the family. This act of hate against a Palestinian Muslim family has no place in America.
‘As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal.’
In recent days, police in US cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments.
FBI officials, along with Jewish and Muslim groups, have reported an increase in hateful and threatening rhetoric.
Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats.
A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless.
The official also said that agents have been encouraged to be ‘aggressive’ and proactive in communicating over the last week with faith-based leaders.
The official said the purpose is not to make anyone feel targeted but rather to ask clerics and others to report to law enforcement anything that seems suspicious.
