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.



5.6 Magnitude Quake Shakes Buildings in Taiwan, Series of Temblors Hit the Island

Shoppers crowd for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations at a market in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Shoppers crowd for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations at a market in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
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5.6 Magnitude Quake Shakes Buildings in Taiwan, Series of Temblors Hit the Island

Shoppers crowd for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations at a market in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Shoppers crowd for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations at a market in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook buildings in Taiwan on Thursday morning, as a series of temblors hit the island, causing little damage but possibly portending more seismic activity in the near future.
The biggest of the quakes hit at 10:11 a.m. (0211 GMT) in Chiayi county’s Dapu township at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), according to the Central Weather Agency and the U. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of the capital, Taipei, where buildings swayed slightly, The Associated Press reported.
That was followed shortly afterward by at least a dozen smaller quakes in Dapu. No damage or casualties were immediately reported.
All were aftershocks from a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Dapu on Jan. 21 and sent 15 people to the hospital with minor injuries and damaged buildings and a highway bridge.
Last April, a magnitude 7.4 quake hit the island’s mountainous eastern coastal county of Hualien, killing at least 13 people, injuring more than 1,000 others, collapsing a hotel and forcing the closure of Toroko National Park. That was the strongest earthquake in 25 years and was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.
Taiwan is going through a period of increased seismic activity that could lead to further aftershocks or new quakes, according to the CWA and earthquake experts.
Taiwan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the line of seismic faults encircling the Pacific Ocean from Chile to New Zealand where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.
The 1999 magnitude 7.7 quake killed 2,415 people, damaged buildings around the island of 23 million people and led to tightened building codes, better response times and coordination and widespread public education campaigns on earthquake safety.
Schools and workplaces hold earthquake drills, while cellphones buzz whenever a strong earthquake is detected.