Jury selected in trial of man charged with killing 6-year-old Palestinian American boy

WASHINGTON

A jury was selected Monday for the trial of a man who was charged with the 2023 killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy, according to local media.

A panel of 12 jurors and three alternate jurors was chosen to decide the fate of Joseph Czuba, 73, who is accused of attempting to kill his tenant, Hanan Shaheen, and killing her child, Wadee Alfayoumi, fatally stabbing him 26 times in Plainfield, Illinois.

Prosecutors allege that Czuba was motived by a "hatred of Muslims."

Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery and a pair of hate crimes charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

The court will resume Tuesday with opening statements, according to local media reports.

Last year, former President Joe Biden commemorated the one-year anniversary of what he called a "heinous" fatal assault on Wadee.