CHICAGO (AP) – A 71-year-old man in the United States (US) accused of fatally stabbing a six-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman was charged with a hate crime on Sunday. Police alleged he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the conflict.
In recent days, police in US cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments.
In the Chicago-area case, officers found the woman and boy at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 65 kilometres southwest of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on social media.
The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement.
An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times.
“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict,” the sheriff’s statement said.
According to the Will County sheriff’s office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off.
The man suspected in the attack was found outside the home and sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence with a cut on his forehead, authorities said.
Joseph M Czuba of Plainfield was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff’s office. He was in custody and awaiting a court appearance.
The boy’s paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian American boy who recently had turned six. The organisation identified the other victim as the boy’s mother.
