Plainfield man stabbed boy to death, wounded woman because they were Muslim, police say

A boy was killed and a woman critically injured after they were stabbed by a man who targeted them because they were Muslim in southwest suburban Plainfield Township on Saturday morning, police said.

The woman, 32, called 911 and told dispatchers that her landlord was attacking her with a knife, the Will County Sheriff’s Department said. Police found the woman and the boy, 6, with multiple stab wounds — the boy had 26 stab wounds, according to an autopsy.

They were both transported to a nearby hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead. The woman is recovering from her injuries and is expected to survive.

Police found the suspect, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba, outside the residence and took him into custody. Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Authorities said both victims were targeted because of their religion and the war in Israel.

“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the sheriff’s department said.

The Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which called a press conference Sunday afternoon to address the crime, identified the boy as Wadea Al-Fayoume.

Will County Sheriff’s Department

The crime comes as conflict in Gaza has escalated following an attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, said harmful and “one-sided” rhetoric from social media has intensified prejudice and led to violence.

Protests in support of both Palestinians and Israelis have been held across the city in recent days.

The boy and woman were both Palestinian American, Rehab said.