‘He’s killing my baby,‘ mother testifies in Plainfield Township hate crime murder trial

A Muslim woman from Jerusalem testified in Will County court Tuesday about how her landlord attacked her and killed her 6-year-old son in what prosecutors called an anti-Muslim hate crime.

Joseph Czuba, 73, is the former Plainfield Township landlord who is on trial this week on charges alleging he attempted to murder Hanan Shaheen, 33, and killed her son, Wadee Alfayoumi, by stabbing him 26 times.

Czuba is charged with committing a hate crime against the mother and child based on their Islamic beliefs.

Wadee was 6 when he died and he celebrated his last birthday about eight days prior. His body was discovered by Will County sheriff’s deputies, who were heard on video saying, “Holy [expletive]!” several times.

A deputy who testified in court wiped away tears from her eyes as the video was played for the jury.

A Plainfield police officer said the child was found naked with a knife stuck inside of his torso.

In opening statements on Tuesday, Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Fitzgerald told the jury that Wadee had stab wounds to his neck, shoulder, chest, abdomen and hands.

Fitzgerald said Czuba attacked Shaheen and Wadee because they were Muslim.

The prosecutor told the jury that Czuba was also afraid the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel “was going to come to his doorstep.”

Fitzgerald said jurors were going to learn that Czuba compared Shaheen and Wadee to “infested rats.”

Kylie Blatti, one of Czuba’s attorneys, told the jurors that Czuba is “presumed innocent of every single charge that he is facing today.”

Blatti said the jurors were going to have to brace themselves for evidence that will disturb them. She warned them it will be “easy to get lost in the horror” of the images they see.

But Blatti contended there are “holes in the state’s case.” She asked jurors to hold prosecutors to their burden of proving Czuba guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Blatti said police investigators assumed Czuba was guilty of the crimes and asked jurors to pay attention to what evidence was not tested or investigated.

Shaheen was the first of four witnesses called in the case on Tuesday.

She testified that she told Czuba and his then wife, Mary Czuba, that she was Muslim and from Jerusalem before entering into a lease agreement to live at their residence in 2021. Mary Czuba has since divorced her husband.

Shaheen described her relationship with Mary Czuba as “very good” and her relationship with Joseph Czuba as “fine.” She said Wadee’s relationship with the Czubas was good.

But the relationship changed after the attack on Israel, Shaheen said. Czuba asked her if she watched the news and later told her he needed her to move out of the residence so his friend could stay, she said.

Shaheen said Czuba told her that “your people” are killing “Jewish babies” in Israel and told her that “Muslims are not welcome here.”

Shaheen said she notified Mary Czuba of her interaction with her husband but she did not feel the need to move out based on that phone call. She said Joseph Czuba would continue to tell her, “Muslims are not welcome here.”

On Oct. 14, 2023, Shaheen described hearing a consistent knock on her door that was so “annoying” that Wadee told her to open the door.

She said when she opened the door, Czuba was standing there and screamed, “I told you to move out of my home!”

Shaheen said Czuba once again told her that “you people” are killing Jewish babies in Israel and that she was “not doing anything about it.”

In response, Shaheen said she told Czuba, “Pray for peace.”

Shaheen said Czuba said “Muslims must die” and he pushed her. She said Czuba climbed on top of her and tried to strangle her and break her teeth. She said she fought back and was able to wrestle the knife away from Czuba and stab him.

At one point, Shaheen said, “Please, let’s go to the hospital,” but Czuba continued to attack her. Shaheen said Czuba told her son, “Wadee, I’ll take care of you,” and that he would raise him.

Shaheen said she heard Czuba say, “Don’t tell people I killed your mom.”

Shaheen said Czuba left the area and she went into a bathroom at the residence, called 911 and locked the door because she was afraid Czuba would return.

Shaheen said she heard her son screaming, “Oh no, stop!”

Shaheen said she stayed in the bathroom because she felt like she would die any second. She said she was too “scared to do anything.”

Jurors heard an audio recording of Shaheen’s 911 call, where she repeatedly said, “He’s killing my baby” to the police dispatcher.

“I am in pain,” Shaheen was heard saying on the audio recording. She said, “I am too scared to do anything.”

George Lenard, one of Czuba’s attorneys, cross-examined Shaheen about her statements to police in the aftermath of the event.

But Shaheen would say in response to many of Lenard’s questions that she didn’t remember exactly what she told police almost a year and half ago.

Shaheen answered many of Lenard’s questions through an Arabic translator and she would look in the direction of the translator rather than Lenard.

At one point, Assistant State’s Attorney Christine Vukmir told Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak that Shaheen is not going to remember “each and every word” she told the police.

In response, Lenard suggested Vukmir “should get up there and testify.”

When Lenard asked Shaheen about her wrongful death lawsuit against Czuba, Shaheen said, “I’m here to seek justice for my son.”

When Lenard asked Shaheen about her meeting with former U.S. President Joe Biden, Bertani-Tomczak sustained an objection from Vukmir over the question.