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Reports: Illinois Man Pleads Not Guilty in Fatal Stabbing of Muslim Boy

Wadea Al-Fayoume's father, Oday Al-Fayoume, right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadea at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP)
Wadea Al-Fayoume's father, Oday Al-Fayoume, right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadea at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP)
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Reports: Illinois Man Pleads Not Guilty in Fatal Stabbing of Muslim Boy

Wadea Al-Fayoume's father, Oday Al-Fayoume, right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadea at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP)
Wadea Al-Fayoume's father, Oday Al-Fayoume, right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadea at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP)

An Illinois man charged with murder and hate crimes for stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy to death and wounding his mother pleaded not guilty before a judge on Monday at an arraignment, according to multiple media accounts.

Police say Joseph Czuba, 71, the family's landlord, targeted them for their religion and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, police said.

His attorney George Lenard entered the plea for him and Czuba, appearing in a red jail uniform, did not speak, an NBC News affiliate in Chicago reported on Monday.

He is charged with the fatal stabbing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, and the wounding of his mother Hanaan Shahin, 32, on Oct. 14, in Plainfield Township, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago.

The boy was stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife with a 7-inch (18-cm) serrated blade, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Czuba's attorney was not immediately available to Reuters for comment on Monday. Lenard has previously told the media that he will not comment outside the courtroom.

Czuba entered the plea at an arraignment in Joilet, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, on eight counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and hate crimes.

"Detectives were able to determine that 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," the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement earlier.

The Department of Justice has also opened a federal investigation into Al-Fayoume's death.

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Trump Threatens to Cut another $1 Billion in Harvard Funding

Students, faculty and members of the Harvard University community rally, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo)
Students, faculty and members of the Harvard University community rally, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo)
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Trump Threatens to Cut another $1 Billion in Harvard Funding

Students, faculty and members of the Harvard University community rally, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo)
Students, faculty and members of the Harvard University community rally, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo)

US President Donald Trump is threatening to cut another $1 billion in funding for Harvard University, this time targeting health research, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, as the administration's row with elite schools escalated.
The Trump administration has withheld government funding from Harvard, Columbia and other universities in response to their tolerance of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in what the administration has labeled a failure to control antisemitism on campus.
Harvard pushed back last week, rejecting demands for control of its student body, faculty and curriculum, saying that it would cede control of the university to the government.
Within hours of Harvard taking its stand, the administration announced it was freezing $2.3 billion in federal funding to the school and the next day threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status.
The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported the plans to pull an additional $1 billion in research funds arose after administration officials thought a long list of demands they sent Harvard on April 11 was a confidential starting point for negotiations, and officials were surprised when Harvard released the letter to the public.
Trump officials had been planning to treat Harvard more leniently than Columbia but now want to increase the pressure on Harvard, the Journal reported.
The White House and Harvard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Sunday.
Since his January inauguration, Trump has cracked down on top US universities, saying they mishandled last year's pro-Palestinian protests and allowed antisemitism to intensify on campus. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say their criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza is wrongly conflated with antisemitism.
The administration had previously sent a list of demands on April 3 to Harvard for the Ivy League university to continue receiving federal funding. These included a mask ban, removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and more cooperation with law enforcement.
The April 11 letter, signed by officials at the Education Department, the Health and Human Services Department, and the General Services Administration, expanded that list. It told Harvard to stop recognizing some pro-Palestinian groups and asked it to report to federal authorities foreign students violating university policies, among other demands.