Feds quiet on hate crime investigation into killing of Plainfield Township boy

Federal authorities are not saying much on their investigation into a Plainfield Township killing of a Muslim child that led to a first-degree murder charge filed in Will County against a landlord nine months ago.

On Oct. 15, 2023, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the U.S. Department of Justice was opening a federal hate crimes investigation into the events that led to the tragic death of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi.

Joseph Czuba, 72, was the landlord of the Plainfield Township residence where Wadee was staying with his mother, Hanan Shaheen. For nine months, Czuba has been facing charges of the first-degree murder of Wadee and the attempted murder of Shaheen.

Czuba also is charged with committing a hate crime against the mother and son on the basis of their Islamic faith.

The Will County case against Czuba has faced delays for months because his attorneys have waited for discovery from the federal investigation they said is necessary for Czuba’s defense.

On July 17, both parties in Czuba’s case informed Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak that they have begun to receive that discovery, according to a court transcript of the hearing.

“Since our last pretrial [date], the U.S. Attorney’s Office did send down a large quantity of discovery, which we did tender to the defense,” Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said.

“Is that all of it?” Bertani-Tomczak said.

“It is not all of it, judge. There is a lesser amount that they told me would be available in about a few weeks,” Fitzgerald said.

Czuba’s case was set for another pretrial hearing Sept. 18.

But it’s not yet clear when the federal investigation will be completed and what may happen when it does. Federal court records as of Friday do not show any cases filed against Czuba.

The Chicago public affairs team for the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Friday that it is the Department of Justice’s standard policy to not comment on “the nature of any investigation that may be occurring.”

The public affairs team said that in any investigation, the FBI “collects evidence and follows leads as the situation requires.”

“Investigations are not limited to a specific duration and may take months or years to investigate and prosecute due to their complexity,” the public affairs team said.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois have not responded to messages earlier this week inquiring about the investigation.

The charges filed against Czuba by Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office were the result of an investigation by the Will County Sheriff’s Office.

On Thursday, Will County Sheriff Deputy Dan Jungles said his office and the FBI have been working together “since the beginning of this incident.”

“Our portion of the investigation is complete, and everything that the Will County Sheriff’s Office has done was handed over to them. We have not had any meetings with federal authorities regarding the Czuba case in quite some time,” Jungles said.

Jungles said he was not sure on the status of the investigation, but if any federal authorities reach out to the sheriff’s office, they will “fully support their efforts in furthering their investigation.”

Czuba’s attorney, George Lenard, said Friday that it was his understanding that the investigation is not yet completed.

Shaheen has commenced her own civil prosecution of Czuba, along with several other defendants, in a wrongful death lawsuit filed May 22. Attorneys with the Simon Law Firm, based in St. Louis, are representing Shaheen in her case.

On Wednesday, Johnny Simon, one of Shaheen’s attorneys, said that all he knew was the “investigation is ongoing.”

“My client has spoken to the FBI already about it, but I have not received notification that it has concluded,” Simon said.

Shaheen’s lawsuit alleged that Czuba became obsessed with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and routinely listened to “talk radio and other media” regarding the incident.

In the days leading to the tragic killing of Wadee, the lawsuit alleged that Czuba told his wife he wanted Shaheen and her son to move out of their house and feared harm from Shaheen’s “Palestinian friends.”

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he is expecting the federal investigation to find the incident was a hate crime, just like the Will County Sheriff’s Office investigation.

“It shook the community to its core,” Rehab said. “This is a cold-blooded killer who attacked the most vulnerable victims possible: a woman and a child.”