JOLIET, Sick. (AP) — A suburban Chicago Muslim mom described to jurors Tuesday how she hid in a locked rest room and known as 911 after her landlord brutally attacked her with a knife after which fatally stabbed her Palestinian American son in one other room.
Hanan Shaheen was the primary witness to testify on the homicide and hate crime trial of 73-year-old Joseph Czuba. He’s charged with wounding Shaheen and killing her six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi in October of 2023. Authorities stated Czuba focused the household due to their Islamic religion and as a response to the battle between Israel and Hamas that erupted on Oct. 7, 2023 with a Hamas assault on southern Israel.
Prosecutors performed the emotional 911 name Shaheen made to report the crime that occurred simply days after the battle began.
“The landlord is killing me and my baby!” she screamed to the dispatcher a number of occasions, in accordance with a recording of the decision performed in courtroom. “He’s killing my baby in another room!”
Czuba has pleaded not responsible to a few counts of first-degree homicide, one depend of tried homicide and different fees. He wore a swimsuit and tie to courtroom, his greying hair falling previous his shoulders. Later it was tied right into a bun. Czuba didn’t converse as he watched the proceedings.
Will County Public Defender Kylie Blatti urged jurors to think about each bit of proof fastidiously as a result of key components have been lacking.
“Go beyond the emotions to carefully examine the evidence,” Blatti stated throughout opening statements. “It is easy to get lost in the horror of those images.”
The household had been renting two rooms from Czuba and his spouse, who additionally lived on the dwelling the place the homicide occurred in suburban Plainfield, practically 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Chicago.
Prosecutor Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s legal professional, advised jurors they’d hear specific particulars in regards to the crime together with how Czuba eliminated a knife from his belt holder and attacked the household. Fitzgerald described every of the 26 stab wounds to the boy’s physique.
“He could not escape,” Fitzgerald stated going through jurors throughout opening statements. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”
Shaheen testified on the courthouse in suburban Joliet, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) from Chicago, that she had not beforehand had any points within the two years that they had rented from the Czubas. They shared a kitchen and front room with the Czubas within the dwelling.
Then after the beginning of the battle, Czuba advised her that they needed to transfer out as a result of Muslims weren’t welcome. She urged him to “Pray for peace.” Later, he confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and making an attempt to interrupt her tooth.
“He told me ’You, as a Muslim, must die,” stated Shaheen, who primarily testified in English however had an Arabic translator on standby in her main language. She often turned to the translator for clarification whereas testifying. However throughout cross examination, she sought extra direct translation usually addressing her translator who sat subsequent to her as a substitute of attorneys.
Protection legal professional George Lenard requested detailed questions on conversations she had with police on the scene and whereas she was within the hospital, however Shaheen stated she didn’t bear in mind specifics. At occasions it appeared as if she had hassle understanding what Lenard was getting at.
After the assault, Shaheen stated was scared and locked herself within the rest room, noting blood throughout her physique and the room. She known as 911 when she heard her son screaming in one other room.
Yelling might be heard on the background of the decision, which Shaheen stated was her son. Because the roughly 15-minute recording performed in courtroom, Shaheen put her head down, clutching a tissue paper in her hand. Attorneys confirmed images of her bloodied face on the hospital.
The boy — whose title was initially spelled Wadea Al-Fayoume by authorities — was later pronounced useless at a hospital. Shaheen had greater than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to get better.
The assault on the household in Plainfield renewed worries of anti-Muslim discrimination within the Chicago space’s giant and established Palestinian neighborhood. The proceedings additionally come amid rising hostility in opposition to Muslims and Palestinians within the U.S. since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
Tons of attended the boy’s janazah, or funeral service, the place the boy was remembered as sort and into sports activities and Legos. In January, Shaheen met with then-President Joe Biden.
Individually, the daddy of the boy, who’s divorced from Shaheen and didn’t dwell on the dwelling, has filed a wrongful dying lawsuit. He attended the courtroom proceedings Tuesday together with an uncle.
Shaheen, who has additionally filed one other civil lawsuit, has retained distinguished civil rights legal professional Ben Crump. He stated Shaheen wouldn’t speak to reporters in the course of the trial, which is anticipated to final a couple of week.
“Hanan Shaheen continues the unimaginable fight for justice for Wadee,” he stated in an announcement. “We have confidence in the prosecution’s efforts to earn justice for Wadee and Hanan.”