NBC News: IL man gets 53 years for killing 6 yr old Palestinian boy and wounding his mother

[Dennis Donovan]

NBC News - Illinois man sentenced to 53 years for hate crime killing of 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and wounding his mother

Joseph Czuba, 73, fatally stabbed Wadee Alfayoumi in the Chicago suburb of Plainfield Township.

May 2, 2025, 1:13 PM EDT / Updated May 2, 2025, 1:45 PM EDT
By Samira Puskar and David K. Li



JOLIET, Ill. — An Illinois man was sentenced on Friday to 53 years behind bars for the racially motivated killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and attacking his mom, days after the Israel-Hamas war erupted in 2023.

Wearing a red jail uniform and appearing thin and frail, 73-year-old Joseph Czuba heard, what amounted to a likely life sentence for murder and attempted murder, from Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak.

A jury in February found the landlord Czuba guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crimes for the Oct. 14, 2023, killing of Wadee Alfayoumi, whose family were tenants of the murderer.

Czuba was sentenced to 30 years for killing Wadee, who was stabbed 26 times.

/snip

[louis-t]

1. Too bad he's 71. He might only serve 8 or 9 years

before croaking. Too short a sentence. I'm sure he's a fox news-watching trmp-loving psycho. This is the type fox news targets with their propaganda.

[ShazzieB]

2. That is one creepy looking dude.

Imagine stabbing a 6 year old 26 times! No, I take that back, imagining that atrocity could be very bad for one's mental heath. The amount of hatred and bigotry contained in that cadaverous frame is hard to fathom.

Some say he deserves more time, but living out the rest of his life and dying behind bars seems appropriate to me, regardless of how many years that amounts to.

[SheltieLover]

3. Steven miller in a few decades?

[Bayard]

4. Can you imagine that being the last face you see in your life?

He just needs the black robe and scythe.