What’s next in the Plainfield Township murder, hate crime case

As of Monday, Joseph Czuba has been officially arraigned on charges accusing him of committing first-degree murder in the slaying of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and attempting to murder Wadea’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, on the basis of their Islamic faith.

The mother and child were attacked by Czuba, their landlord, on Oct. 14 while they were at his residence in Plainfield Township, Will County prosecutors said.

Czuba, a regular listener of conservative talk radio, allegedly committed the attack after becoming increasingly paranoid and frustrated over the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to prosecutors.

Czuba has been in the Will County jail since Oct. 15 following his arrest.

What’s happening next?

Czuba is due back in court Jan. 8 for a pretrial hearing in front of Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak, who was assigned to the case by Judge Dave Carlson. If any pretrial motions are filed by prosecutors or Czuba’s attorneys before Jan. 8, it’s possible he return back to court at an earlier date.

At the Jan. 8 hearing, both parties may address for a third time whether Czuba should remain in jail.

On Oct. 16, Judge Donald DeWilkins ruled that Czuba should stay in jail after listening to harrowing allegations about the circumstances of Wadea’s death and Shahin’s attack. On Monday, Carlson once again ruled that Czuba cannot leave the jail.

It’s too early to tell when Czuba’s case may go to trial or reach another resolution. It’s not unusual for first-degree murder cases to take up to five years to be resolved in Will County.

Czuba’s defense?

Czuba’s attorneys, George Lenard and Kylie Blatti, have not indicated what their defense of Czuba will be other than he is presumed innocent of the charges.

Last Friday, Lenard raised concerns about Czuba’s ability to receive a fair trial in front of an impartial jury. Lenard suspected that 80% of potential jurors will know about the case already, while the other 20% will say they haven’t in order to sit on the trial.

Carlson considered how much media coverage would be allowed in the case and ultimately settled on allowing still photography only inside the courtroom.

Lenard noted that even U.S. President Joe Biden has commented on the case, and the White House has talked with Wadea’s family.

Czuba is receiving legal representation from attorneys with Will County Public Defender Michael Renzi’s office. Renzi chose Lenard, a part-time assistant public defender, to serve as lead counsel for Czuba.

Federal hate crimes investigation

The other – and quieter – development in the Czuba case has been an investigation from the Chicago FBI Field Office, the civil rights division of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern Illinois District.

Federal authorities have not said much about the investigation after it was announced by U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland. They said they “continue to work closely” with the Will County Sheriff’s Office and Will County State’s Attorney’s Office on the investigation.

It’s not yet known if the investigation may lead to federal charges against Czuba.