16-10-2023 (CHICAGO) A 71-year-old man in suburban Chicago has been charged with murder and hate crimes for the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old boy and the serious injury of the child’s 32-year-old mother. The authorities allege that the suspect singled out the victims due to their Muslim faith and as a response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The Will County Sheriff’s Office stated on Sunday that detectives had determined the victims were targeted because of their faith and their connection to the Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis. The incident occurred at a residence approximately 40 miles southwest of Chicago, where officers found both victims on Saturday morning.
The six-year-old boy, identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American, was tragically pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy revealed that he had been stabbed 26 times with a large military-style knife.
The mother, Hanaan Shahin, sustained over a dozen stab wounds but remained hospitalized on Sunday, with expectations for her recovery.
The suspect’s identity has not been disclosed by authorities, but he was apprehended on Saturday, found “sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence” with a forehead cut. As of Sunday, he was in custody and awaiting a court appearance. The charges against him include first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
The Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) expressed condolences and identified the victims in a statement as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother Hanaan Shahin. The organization shared that the surviving mother provided testimony regarding the incident and expressed full confidence in the authorities’ ability to investigate the incident as a hate crime.
According to CAIR-Chicago, text messages from the mother to the boy’s father revealed that the suspect had shouted, “You Muslims must die!” before the stabbing. The organization characterized the crime as “our worst nightmare” and part of a concerning surge in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The family had resided on the ground floor of the house for two years, with the suspect being their landlord, according to reports.
We are shocked and disturbed to learn that a landlord in Chicago expressing anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian views broke into a Muslim family’s apartment and attacked them with a knife, injuring the mother and killing her 6-year-old son, Wadea Al-Fayoume. @cairchicago will hold a… pic.twitter.com/N0ILuevq4n
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) October 15, 2023
