Mother of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, who was allegedly stabbed to death by his landlord Joseph Czuba, 71, is so severely injured and traumatized she is yet to speak
The mother of a six-year-old Muslim boy killed by the family’s landlord has been left so seriously injured and traumatized that she cannot yet talk about the horrific ordeal, the child’s great-uncle said.
Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed to death in his home on Saturday afternoon, and his mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, was stabbed 26 times.
The attack was so brutal that the 12-inch kitchen knife remained lodged in the child’s body until the autopsy.
The attacker, Joseph Czuba, was a friendly neighbor who built a tree house for the little boy, but became obsessed with coverage of the October 7 Hamas terror attack and “freaked out,” a local activist told CNN.
Mahmoud Yousef, the boy’s great-uncle, told the newspaper that the family had not yet spoken to the boy’s mother, Hanaan Shahin.
“We have no idea how she is doing now,” he said.
Six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume was reportedly stabbed to death on Saturday by the family’s landlord, Joseph Czuba, 71,
Mahmoud Yousef, the boy’s great-uncle (left), appeared on CNN on Wednesday alongside the executive director of CAIR Ahmed Rehab in Chicago
The attack happened Saturday morning at this home in Plainfield, Illinois, where both lived. Wadea’s family rented a room from Czuba, who also lives in the building
The backyard of the house where Czuba stabbed the boy and his mother. It is full of American flags and other patriotic signs
‘They won’t let us talk to her, see her or visit her. Until now,” the great uncle said. ‘We try. They told us we have to wait.”
Yousef said he was speaking on behalf of the family because the father, Oday Al-Fayoume, was “still in disbelief about what just happened.”
Asked why Shahin had not yet spoken to her relatives, Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said she was seriously injured and in shock.
“This was a brutal and heinous attack,” he told CNN. ‘She was stabbed twelve times.
“The little boy was stabbed 26 times. There was a 12-inch knife still lodged in his abdomen when he was taken for an autopsy.”
Rehab said Shahin was “stabbed in the face and cheek, she cannot speak.”
“She is obviously in serious emotional distress due to the trauma she has experienced,” Rehab said. “And so the hospital may want to be protected from the public’s interests.
‘We’re still trying to get in touch.’
The boy and his mother. He has an older sibling who was not injured in Saturday’s attack
The FBI and the Department of Justice have launched an investigation into the attack. The FBI stated that it ‘takes hate crime investigations very seriously’
The boy’s father Sunday. The child’s funeral took place as Czuba appeared in court on murder and other charges
“This is a tough day that we hoped would never come. As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest,” Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, said in a statement
Rehab said the “evil” Czuba had been radicalized by coverage of the Hamas attack, which turned him against Muslims.
“Ironically, just before this segment discussing the brutalization of this family, there was a segment discussing possible imminent threats from the Muslim community,” Rehab said.
‘And it is these kinds of messages that this evil man was looking at: he was radicalized by the media reporting, which is constantly skewed and one-sided.
“Honestly, similar to what I see on CNN and other networks. Statements from politicians.
“Which made this otherwise normal man who built a tree house for the boy a monster.”
Yousef added: “A many people have a phobia or something against Muslims.
“They look at them as monsters. Describe them as animals.’
He said politicians and community leaders need to be more careful with their words.
“I think it starts with the leaders of our country,” Yousef said.
‘When they hear something, for example news. Don’t just say it unless you know it’s true or not.”
Metro Chicago community members mourned the loss of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume at a funeral Monday
“This is a tough day that we hoped would never come. As they say, the smallest coffins are the heaviest,” Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, said in a statement
The child’s school district said guidance staff would be available at the boy’s school on Monday
Wadea was stabbed 26 times and killed in an attack on Sunday. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was stabbed more than ten times. She remains in the hospital
He reiterated Rehab, saying Czuba was “a normal person” who became radicalized.
“There was no problem with him,” Rehab said.
‘Suddenly he switched, because of what he heard on the news. Unfortunately, most of the things he hears aren’t even true.
‘That’s where we have to start. We have to start with the community.
‘Unfortunately, the community is sometimes judgmental.
“Why didn’t you just ask if you’re afraid of something?” Why don’t you ask?’
In recent days, Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase in hateful rhetoric in the wake of the war. Several cities have increased police patrols.
The Justice Department said it has opened a hate crime investigation into the attack.
“This heinous act of hate has no place in America and goes against our founding values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are,” President Joe Biden said.