JOLIET, Ill. — A man accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in an attack on a Palestinian American woman and her young son pleaded not guilty Monday following his indictmen t by an Illinois grand jury.
Joseph Czuba, 71, is charged in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and the wounding of Hanaan Shahin on Oct. 14. Authorities said the victims were targeted because of their Muslim faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Shahin told police that Czuba, her landlord in Plainfield in Will County, was upset over the war and attacked them after she had urged him to “pray for peace.”
Czuba appeared in court Monday wearing a red jail uniform, socks and yellow rubber slippers.
His attorney George Lenard entered the not guilty plea after the judge read the 8-count indictment. Czuba did not speak, looking down at the podium with his hands folded behind his back as he stood before the judge in the court in Joliet, 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Chicago.
Shahin, 32, is recovering from multiple stab wounds. Hundreds of people attended her son’s funeral on Oct. 16 where he was remembered as an energetic boy who loved playing games. He had recently had a birthday.
The boy’s father and other family members attended the hearing. They declined to speak to reporters.
The murder charge in the indictment against Czuba describes the boy’s death as the result of “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior.” The attack on the family — which renewed fears of anti-Islamic discrimination in the Chicago area’s large and established Palestinian community — has drawn condemnation from the White House.