Plainfield, Illinois, landlord convicted of all charges in hate crime murder of 6-year-old Palestinian boy

A Will County jury has convicted a Plainfield, Illinois, landlord on all counts in the hate crime murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy, and the stabbing of the boy's mother.

Jurors deliberated little more than an hour before convicting Joseph Czuba of one count of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, and two counts of hate crime in the attack that killed Wadee Alfayoumi and seriously injured his mother, Hanan Shaheen in 2023.

After the verdict, Wadee's father, Odai Alfayoumi, spoke out through an interpreter, describing his feeling of mixed emotions.