Murderer of Palestinian-American boy sentenced to 53 years

Washington: An Illinois man was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Friday for the murder of a six year old Palestinian American boy in an attack deeme...

Washington: An Illinois man was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Friday for the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy in an attack deemed an anti-Muslim hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Joseph Czuba, 73, was convicted in February of fatally stabbing Wadea Al-Fayoumi and attacking the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen.

Czuba was the family's landlord and the attack took place a week after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023.

Wadea was stabbed 26 times and a serrated military knife with a 15-cm (six-inch) blade was removed from the child's abdomen during the autopsy.

Shaheen and Czuba's now ex-wife, Mary, testified that he targeted the Muslim family after becoming agitated about the conflict in Gaza, media reported.