An American court in Illinois issued a verdict on Friday convicting Joseph Chuba (73 years old) of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and committing hate crimes, in the context of the killing of the Palestinian-American child, Wadie Al-Fayoumi (6 years old) in October 2023, and stabbing his mother, Hanan Shahin, multiple times in an attack that the Public Prosecution said was motivated by hatred against Muslims.

The jury announced the verdict after deliberations that lasted more than an hour, in a case that caused widespread shock inside and outside the United States, according to the American network NBC.

Crime details

The crime took place on October 14, 2023, inside the home of Chuba and his ex-wife in Plainfield Township, a suburb of Chicago. Hanan Shahin had rented two rooms from Chuba and his wife for two years, without any significant problems between them before. But with the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023, things changed.

In her court testimony, Hanan Shahin said that in the days leading up to the incident, Chuba began to express open hatred toward Muslims and Palestinians, telling her that her people were “killing Jews and children in Israel,” and demanding that she leave the house despite her compliance with the terms of the lease. Shahin said she responded by praying for peace, but the tensions continued.

On the day of the crime, Chuba broke into Shaheen’s room and repeatedly stabbed her with a knife while her son, Wadie, watched in horror. Shaheen said she managed to grab the knife for a while and stab him, but he snatched it back. After she took cover in the bathroom to try to call 911, Chuba went to Wadie and stabbed him 26 times with a 7-inch knife, which was found embedded in the child’s body when police and paramedics arrived.

Shaheen testified that she heard her son screaming, “No, please stop!” before he took his last breath. She was taken to the hospital with severe injuries, requiring 19 stitches to her face and staples to her head.

The killing of the child, Wadie, and the stabbing of his mother caused widespread shock among the Muslim and Palestinian communities in the United States, and many expressed their fears of increasing hatred against them. Human rights organizations and some public figures criticized the media and political discourse, which they described as promoting Islamophobia and incitement against Arabs and Muslims.