The jury finds the owner of Illinois guilty of murder, hate crime in 2023 attack against the American Palestinian child

AP
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A jury found an owner of Illinois guilty of murders and charges of hate crime on Friday for a brutal 2023 attack against an American Palestinian family who left a dead 6 -year -old boy.

Joseph Czuba, 73, was accused of the fatal stabbing of Wadoee Alfayoumi and his mother’s wound, Hanan Shaheen, on October 14, 2023 in Plainfield, about 40 miles from Chicago. The authorities alleged that the family, which rented Salas in the house of Czuba, was attacked due to its Islamic faith and in response to the war between Israel and Hamas that exploded on October 7, 2023.

The jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes due to the crime that renewed the fears of anti-musulman discrimination in the large and established Palestinian community of the Chicago area.

The trial presented a detailed testimony of the police officers, the medical workers, the ex -wife of Czuba and Shaheen, who described how Czuba attacked her with a knife before chasing her son in a different room. Prosecutors say the child had been stabbed 26 times. He was found naked with a knife still on his side.

The graphic photos of the murder, a Czuba knife holder, allegedly used that day, along with the police video images were fundamental in the case of Will County prosecutors. Sometimes, the video screens that show explicit images moved away from the public audience that saw where Wadee family members sat during the trial.

The crime renewed the fears of anti-musulman discrimination in the large and established Palestinian community of the Chicago area.

The trial presented a detailed testimony of the police officers, the medical workers, the ex -wife of Czuba and Shaheen, who described how Czuba attacked her with a knife before chasing her son in a different room. Prosecutors say that the child, recently 6, had been stabbed 26 times. He was found naked with a knife still on his side.

The graphic photos of the murder, a Czuba knife holder, allegedly used that day, along with the police video images were fundamental in the case of Will County prosecutors. Sometimes, the video screens that show explicit images were placed on a television screen towards the jury and far from the public seats, which included the father and the Wadee reporters. His father, Odai Alfayoumi, is divorced from Shaheen and did not live with them at home.