An Illinois man who was sentenced to 53 years in prison for murdering a Palestinian-American child died in prison, authorities announced on Saturday.
Joseph Czuba, 73, died on Thursday two years into his sentence, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The cause of his death was not published.
One week after the October 7 massacre, Czuba murdered six-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume in the child’s home by stabbing him 26 times, and stabbed and strangled the child’s mother, Hanaan Shahin.
Czuba, who was renting the pair a room in his house, was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, and hate crimes in February 2025, and was sentenced to 53 years after pleading not guilty.
During the trial, Shaheen testified that Czuba had recently demanded that she and her son move out of his home, and told her, “your people” are killing Jewish people in the days before the attack.
She explained that on October 14, 2023, Czuba burst into her room and held her down, stabbing her over a dozen times, and at one point put his fingers in her mouth and attempted to break her teeth. Shaheen stated that the entire time, she struggled, and could hear him shouting “You must die!” while her son watched the encounter from the corner.
“Wadee, I will take care of you. I will raise you,” Czuba told the child. “Don’t tell people I killed your mom.”
Shaheen said she was able to escape to the bathroom and call 911 when Czuba began attacking her son.
A sudden shift after October 7
Shaheen stated that Czuba hadn’t shown any issues with the pair in the two years they lived together, when the mother and son shared a kitchen and living room with Czuba and his then-wife.
Following the announcement of Czuba’s death, Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office, stated, “This depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well.”