A landlord who killed a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and attempted to murder his mother in Plainship, Illinois in 2023 was sentenced to 53 years in prison by a judge on Friday. 

A jury found Joseph M. Czuba, 73, was motivated by anti-Muslim hatred according to a New York Times report. He was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Hana Shaheen, 33, and her son Wadee Alfayoumi were living in Czuba’s home for two years, who rented out two rooms to them with no problems, according to the report. 

Less than two weeks after Oct. 7 however, Czuba expressed anger to Shaheen about events in the Middle East. When she responded, “Let’s pray for peace,” Czuba pulled a knife from his belt, stabbing her multiple times. He then fatally stabbed her son 26 times, leaving the knife in his body.

The boy's last words were “Mom, I’m fine,” according to a BBC report.

Prosecutors said Czuba targeted the victims because they were Muslim and Palestinian.

Text messages from the victims’ family to the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Chicago (CAIR) revealed that Czuba told Shaheen, “You Muslims must die,” during the attack.

The murder sparked widespread concern for safety among Muslims and Arabs in the U.S., many of whom have reported being victim of anti-Muslim hate since October 2023.

CAIR, the nation’s leading Muslim civil rights group, reported a record high of nearly 9,000 anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian incidents in 2024—the most in a single year since it began tracking such cases in 1996.

The report cited that many of the incidents occurred in the form of discrimination in higher education settings.