Landlord accused of killing 6-year-old Muslim boy pleads not guilty

CHICAGO — The man accused of attacking his Palestinian American tenant and killing her 6-year-old son in a hate-fueled attack spurred by the war in Israel pleaded not guilty to charges on Monday.

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Joseph Czuba, 71, appeared in court days after a grand jury indicted him on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of hate crimes, according to WBBM-TV.

A judge ordered he be held without bond due to the ongoing threat he poses to one of the victims and to the community, WLS-TV reported.

Authorities said Czuba attacked his tenant, Hanaan Shahin, 32, and her son, Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, on the morning of Oct. 14. Shahin was stabbed more than dozen times, suffering wounds to her chest, torso and her upper extremities. Wadea was stabbed 26 times and later died at a hospital, investigators said.

Shahin is Muslim and lived in the home where the attack happened for two years before the stabbing, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Ahmen Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago chapter, told the newspaper that she had been in the U.S. for 12 years, and her son was born in the country. He celebrated his sixth birthday days before he was killed.

At a court hearing earlier this month, prosecutors said that before the attack, Czuba “believed he was in danger and [his tenant, Shahin] was going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them,” the Sun-Times reported. He had not previously had any run-ins with his tenants and had even built Wadea a treehouse, the newspaper reported.

Speaking with CAIR’s Chicago chapter last week, Shahin asked for people to “Pray for Peace,” according to the organization. She remembered her son as smart and funny.

“He was my best friend,” she said, according to CAIR Chicago.

The Justice Department is also investigating the attack.