The father of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy who was stabbed to death in Plainfield Township has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the suspect, his wife and their property management company in connection with the boy’s death.
Joseph Czuba, 71, the landlord of Hanan Shaheen and her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, is accused of targeting the two because of their Muslim faith in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
Prosecutors say Czuba went to Shaheen’s apartment in the 16000 block of Lincoln Highway and attacked them with a knife, stabbing the boy 26 times, on Oct. 14. Wadea was pronounced dead at a hospital, and his mother suffered serious injuries.
Oday Al-Fayoume, Wadea’s father, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Nov. 21 in Will County court against Czuba and his wife, Mary Czuba, and their property management company, Discerning Property Management.
“Justice comes in many forms … and there is, obviously, unbelievable loss in Wadea, but his mother also was injured seriously, and we believe that there are avenues to recover compensation for what the family’s been through,” said Ben Crane, an attorney representing Oday Al-Fayoume.
“This family has been through a whole lot, and if there’s something this civil justice system can do to ease their burden, then we’ve got to figure that out,” Crane said. According to the lawsuit, they are seeking “an amount necessary to fully and fairly compensate the next of kin” under the Wrongful Death Act.
Joseph Czuba is being held at the Will County Jail as he awaits trial on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime in relation to the attack. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in the criminal case.
The U.S. Justice Department last month also opened a hate investigation into the attack, and the FBI office in Chicago has said it is working with Will County authorities.
The lawsuit alleges that Mary Czuba texted Shaheen sometime before the attack about the Israel-Hamas conflict and about her husband’s “hatred of Muslims.”
Three days before the attack, Joseph Czuba told his wife to inform Shaheen that he wanted her and her son out of their apartment, where they had lived for two years. He also told his wife he was afraid that Shaheen’s “Palestinian friends were going to harm them,” the lawsuit states.
Prosecutors have alleged that Joseph Czuba was partially spurred by concerns he gathered from comments he heard about the Israel-Hamas war on conservative talk radio and become agitated by the Palestinian American tenants living in his home.
The lawsuit claims Mary Czuba and Discerning Property Management “were indifferent and failed to recognize a threat and prevent serious bodily harm” to their tenants.
Court records show no attorneys have filed to represent the Czubas or their property management company.
A hearing is scheduled for March 11.
