Illinois man who fatally stabbed a six-year-old Palestinian boy dies in prison

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Joseph Czuba, who was serving a 53-year prison sentencing for fatally stabbing a six-year-old Palestinian boy and injured his mother in 2023, has died in prison.

The brutal murder of Wadee Alfayoumi shocked the nation in the days after the October 7 Hamas attack inside Israel.

The Will County Sheriff's Office confirmed his death in a statement, but did not release his cause of death.

Authorities said Czuba stabbed Alfayoumi and his mother dozens of times due to them being Muslim and "the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis."

The mother and son were living in a rented room in Czuba's home in Plainfield Township, a suburb of Chicago at the time of the attack.

After hearing the news, the boy's father, Al Fayoume, says he feels no satisfaction from czuba's death.

Alfayoumi's killing drew national condemnation at a time when tensions around the country's Muslim and Jewish communities were intensifying after the October 7 attacks.