The last words of a six-year-old Muslim boy stabbed to death in a suspected hate crime in the US revealed were “Mom, I’m fine”, his family revealed as he was laid to rest at his funeral.
Wadea Al-Fayoume, who had recently had a birthday, died on Saturday after being stabbed dozens of times in Plainfield, Illinois, in a brutal attack in which his mother was also seriously wounded.
The family’s landlord Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of the attack. Authorities said he was upset over the Israel-Hamas war and attacked them after the boy’s mother Hanaan Shahin proposed they “pray for peace.”
Hundreds of mourners gathered in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, which is home to a large Palestinian community, for the funeral. Ms Shanin was unable to attend as she recovers from her injuries in hospital.
The Mosque Foundation where the funeral took place was filled to overflowing, with some paying their respects on the pavement outside.
One of the boy’s uncles, Mahmoud Yousef, said: “When he [Wadea] was stabbed his last words to his mom were, ‘Mom, I’m fine.’ You know what, he is fine. He’s in a better place.”
Another uncle Yousef Hannon, said that before the killing “there was no signs of anything wrong” between the alleged perpetrator and the victims.
The boy and his mother lived in two rented rooms in a house owned by Czuba, who had even come to Wadea’s birthday just a few weeks ago, Mr Hannon said.
“He was friendly to the whole family, but especially to the kid, who he treated like a grandson,” Mr Hannon told the BBC. “He brought him gifts, he brought him some toys.”
Mr Hannon said Wadea “loved his school, loved his teachers, loved his mother”.
“He loved life,” he said. “He was acting like a normal six-year-old child, always with a smile.”
In Bridgeview, the boy’s father briefly spoke to reporters in Arabic, saying he was trying to make sense of what happened to his son and the boy’s mother.
He hoped it would be a “bullet to solve the issue” in his homeland. “I’m here as the father of the boy, not as a politician or religious scholar. I’m here as the father of a boy whose rights were violated,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Czuba made his first court appearance on murder, attempted murder and hate crime charges.
In detailing the charges on Sunday, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said “both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
