The 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed and killed in an alleged hate crime in Plainfield, Illinois Saturday morning will be buried in a Muslim funeral service on Monday. According to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mom were stabbed by their landlord, Joseph Czuba, because of their religious beliefs. Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times with a military knife, and his mom, who is still hospitalized, was stabbed 12 times. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast, Wadea’s father revealed that the boy likely ran toward Czuba to give him a hug before being killed. Ahmed Rehab, the Chicago president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spoke with the mom and asserted that Czuba, 71, had attempted to choke her and said, “You Muslims must die.” Czuba has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and two hate crime counts. The Department of Justice, Chicago FBI, and U.S. Attorney’s Office also announced a federal investigation into the alleged murder. Czuba will be held at Will County’s Adult Detention center until his scheduled court appearance on Monday afternoon.
Read it at ABC 7
