Slain Palestinian boy's mother testifies in landlord's hate crime murder trial
Testimony began Tuesday in the hate crime murder trial of a Plainfield, Illinois, landlord accused of killing a 6-year-old Palestinian boy, as the prosecution's star witness – the boy's mother, who also was stabbed – took the witness stand.
Prosecutors have said Joseph Czuba attacked his two tenants, Hanan Shaheen and her 6-year-old son, Wadee Alfayoume, because they were Muslim. Czuba has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, and two counts of hate crime.
Wadee's father – wearing a red, white, and blue vest – entered the Will County courthouse Tuesday morning for the first time since the trial began this week, with several loved ones by his side.
He said he wasn't ready to share his feelings, but one person who did talk – for hours – was Wadee's mother, Hanan Shaheen, who had lived with Joseph Czuba for two years and a week before her son's death in Plainfield on Oct. 14, 2023.
Overcoming a language barrier and her own trauma, Shaheen took the stand for hours on Tuesday, saying she was seeking justice for her son. It was the first time she has spoken publicly about the alleged attack.
Shaheen said Czuba had previously tried to kick them out of the home, referencing the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel.
She recalled one exchange in which Czuba told her, "Your people is killing Jewish and babies in Israel. Muslims are not welcome here in my home."
"I told him pray for peace, and then I went to my room," she added.
Shaheen said she was getting her son ready for a bath on the day of the attack, when Czuba came to her bedroom door and demanded she leave, saying, "I told you — you people were killing Jewish and babies, and you're not doing anything about it."
She said Czuba pushed her to the ground, putting his own body on top of her as he pushed a knife into her chest, cutting her across her face and body.
"I start pushing him back, pulling his hair. He's saying 'you must die, you devil Muslim, you must die,'" Shaheen testified.
Shaheen said Czuba eventually let go of the knife, and she was able to strike him back before running to the bathroom to call 911 on her cellphones, desperately explaining to dispatch, "The landlord is trying to kill me."
"He's killing my baby. He's killing me and my baby. Please. The landlord is killing me and my baby," Shaheen told dispatchers. "I am in the bathroom waiting for you. I think he took my baby away, I don't know where they are. Please come."
Prosecutors said the 911 calls include Wadee's screams from another room, an attack he did not survive.
In the last moments of the nearly 15-minute call, police officers can be heard entering the home, announcing themselves, and taking Shaheen to safety. The last words on the recording come from the dispatcher, who said, "Oh my god, this is real."
Shaheen said, at one point during the attack, Czuba turned to her son and said that he would raise Wadee as his own with his own wife, instructing the boy not to tell anyone that he'd killed Shaheen.
The defense has told jurors to look out for changes and inconsistencies in testimony, but has given few clues to their strategy.
If convicted, Czuba could face a maximum sentence of life in prison. It's unclear how long the trial is expected to last.
