An Illinois landlord has been found guilty of murdering a six-year-old Palestinian boy over his religion. 

Joseph Czuba, 73, repeatedly stabbed Wadee Alfayoumi and his mother Hanan Shaheen, killing the youngster. 

The little boy was stabbed 26 times in the frenzied attack inside their Plainfield home in October of 2023. The family had been renting a room from Czuba at the time. 

Czuba was charged in the stabbing, with authorities saying the family had been targeted by him due to their Islamic faith. 

In court on Friday, a jury found Czuba guilty of murdering the little boy as well as hate crimes, deliberating for less than 90 minutes. 

Speaking after the verdict was handed down, the boy’s father Odai Alfayoumi told reporters: ‘I don´t know if I should be pleased or upset, if I should be crying or laughing.

‘People are telling me to smile. Maybe if I were one of you, I would be smiling, but I´m the father of the child and I’ve lost the child. And I feel like this decision came to a little too late.’

The trial had featured detailed testimony from police officers, medical teams and Czuba’s ex wife and Shaheen.  

Shaheen described how Czuba attacked her with a knife before going after her son in a different room. 

Prosecutors say that the child had been stabbed 26 times. He was found naked with a knife still in his side.

Graphic photos of the murder, a knife holder Czuba allegedly used that day, along with police video footage were central to the Will County prosecutors’ case. 

At times video screens showing explicit footage were turned away from the public viewing audience where members of Wadee’s family sat during the trial.

‘If it wasn´t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body,’ Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors during opening statements.

Czuba’s attorney, George Lenard, declined comment Friday. Czuba had pleaded not guilty. 

He faced murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crime charges in an eight-count indictment.

Czuba is scheduled for sentencing on May 2, according to the Will County Circuit Clerk´s office.

One of the critical parts of the trial was Shaheen’s testimony and the 911 call she made to report the crime that happened just days after the recent war in Gaza began. 

She said they had not previously had any issues in the two years they rented from the Czubas. They shared a kitchen and living room with the Czubas.

Then after the Israel Hamas war broke out, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. 

Later, he confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.

‘He told me “You, as a Muslim, must die,”‘ said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator. 

Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover. The boy was later pronounced dead.

Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.

Separately, civil lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. 

Ben Crump, the national civil rights attorney representing Shaheen, released a statement calling the verdict a ‘measure of justice.’

His statement said: ‘Wadee was an innocent six-year-old child whose life was stolen in an act of unimaginable violence fueled by hatred.

‘While we are relieved that his killer has been held accountable, we must continue to stand against the rising tide of hate that led to this senseless act. 

‘We must honor Wade’s memory by continuing to fight against hate in all its forms and working toward a future where every child is safe, valued, and free from violence.’