Knife-wielding landlord targets Muslim mom and son, killing 6-year-old, IL cops say

An Illinois landlord is accused of attacking a mother and her 6-year-old son with a knife, killing the boy in an apparent hate crime, investigators say.

Deputies with the Will County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in Plainfield Township at 11:40 a.m. Oct. 14, after receiving a call from a woman saying her landlord had attacked her, the office said in a news release. The 32-year-old woman “ran into the bathroom and continued to fight off her attacker as she dialed 911,” the sheriff’s office said.

When deputies arrived, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba was sitting outside the home, near the driveway, with a cut to his forehead, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies found the woman and her son in a bedroom, badly injured and bleeding. Czuba is accused of stabbing the child 26 times “throughout his body” and stabbing the mother more than a dozen times.

She was taken to a hospital in serious condition and is expected to recover, investigators said. However, her son died from his injuries.

During an autopsy, the weapon Czuba used in the attack, a 12-inch serrated knife, was removed from the boy’s abdomen, officials said.

“Joseph Czuba did not make any statements to detectives regarding his involvement in this heinous attack,” the sheriff’s office said, but “personnel were able to gather enough information through interviews and evidence to formally charge Joseph Czuba with numerous criminal offenses.”

Additionally, investigators say Czuba targeted the boy and his mother because they are Muslim.

“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 involving Hamas and the Israelis,” investigators said.

Czuba is facing charges of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and two counts of committing a hate crime, according to the release.

Czuba is being held at the Will County Adult Detention Facility.

Plainfield Township is about 35 miles southwest of Chicago.

This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Knife-wielding landlord targets Muslim mom and son, killing 6-year-old, IL cops say."