Hate Crime Child Murderer Learns His Sentence

JOLIET, IL — On Feb. 28, twelve Will County jurors found Joseph Czuba guilty on all charges in the death of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. At noon Friday, Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced the 73-year-old Plainfield man to a total of 53 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The judge gave Czuba 30 years for the murder of Wadee, 20 years for the attempted murder of Wadee's mother, and another three years for the two hate crimes. Czuba declined to make a statement at his sentencing.

Wadee, a kindergartner, was stabbed 26 times in his mother's bedroom on Oct. 14, 2023.

The boy and his mother, then 31, were attacked inside Czuba's Plainfield Township house.

“There is no sentence that can be imposed to bring justice for the heinous actions Czuba took on October 14, 2023,” Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow declared in Friday afternoon's press release. “The cruelty of this morally reprehensible killer and the impact of his violent conduct on this innocent child and mother is truly unfathomable.”

Wadee's grandfather was called to the courtroom podium on Friday to give a victim impact statement on behalf of their family. He began by thanking the Plainfield mayor, Plainfield police, the entire community and the Will County Sheriff's Office, plus the judge and the Will County State's Attorney's Office for their role in securing Czuba's conviction.

The grandfather also told the judge that no sentence for Czuba would ever justify what he did by killing Wadee.

"Mr. Czuba, sitting right there, had no right to take him," the grandfather declared. "If there is any justice, we would like to know what made him do it?"

The grandfather turned in the courtroom and looked at the Plainfield murderer and asked Czuba to reveal what television and radio stations "made him do it. What kind of news made him do such an unheard crime that went way beyond hate. We're talking a 6-year-old kid. We need to know. We need that peace of mind. We need Mr. Joseph to explain what he had on his mind. Just give the father that peace of mind."

Wadee's grandfather asked Czuba one more time, "Mr. Joseph, what was the reason for killing that little boy that he was taking care of? What changed? Mr. Joseph, say something. Come on, say something."

Czuba looked up at Wadee's grandfather from his seat at the defense table, but the Plainfield killer chose not to respond.

During final arguments for the defense at the trial, Czuba's attorney George Lenard asked the jury to find his client not guilty on all charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder and two counts of hate crime, insinuating that Wadee's mother ended her own son's life.

On Friday, Lenard asked the judge to impose the minimum sentence, citing Czuba's age and the fact that he has stage 4 cancer. "He's probably going to go to a maximum security prison," Lenard said, explaining that he doubted the prison system would provide ongoing chemotherapy treatment, as Czuba has been receiving during his 566 days at the Will County jail.

Prosecutor Christine Vukmir handled the prosecution's final argument at the trial.

She told the courtroom that Lenard's closing argument to the jury constituted "outlandish theories not suggested by facts."

Lenard was "basically beating around the bush, suggesting that Hanan killed her own," Vukmir told the jury. "That's what he wants you to believe ... that she decided that she's going to frame that guy, her landlord, that's what he wants you to believe."

Absolutely no evidence supported Lenard's theory, Vukmir said. Reminding the courtroom that if Wadee's mother killed her son, she would have had to strap the Scuba Pro knife belt and holster around Czuba's body and basically force "the murder weapon" multiple times into her own body and then stab herself in the back of her own head to cover up her own crime.

At the news conference following the jury's verdicts, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, announced that “justice has been done”

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said in part:

"All the way up to the President of the United States at the time, President Biden—there was culpability. When the president came out and reiterated unfounded claims that 40 babies were decapitated, that they were basically beheaded by Palestinians—this was part of the radicalization process of Joseph Czuba. That's what he was reacting to, these unfounded claims... The way that the media covered the conflict, showing only one side of what was happening, and not at all showing the humanity, suffering, and the reality of the Gazans on the ground who were losing life, limb, property, infrastructure, houses, by the tens of thousands."

A day before the sentencing, state Sen. Senator Meg Loughran Cappel issued a news release saying she supported a resolution that honors the life of the Plainfield 6-year-old. The resolution renames this year's International Day of Peace on Sept. 21 as Wadee's Day "to inspire individuals to work together to make the world a more peaceful place," the release said.

"This was a terrible act of violence against a child and no child should ever be made a target because of who they are, where they come from or how they pray," said Loughran Cappel (D-Shorewood). "May the memory of Wadee be a blessing and a reminder we must rise against hate and continue the work of building a better and safer state."

Patch's previous coverage of the case:

• Prosecutor Slams 'Outlandish Theories' Blaming Slain Boy's Mother For Hate Crime Killing
• Slain Boy, Wounded Mom Called 'Infested Rats' By Czuba: Testimony
• 'The Landlord Is Killing Me And My Baby': Plainfield Murder Trial
• President Biden Meets With Mom Of Boy Killed In Plainfield Hate Crime