An Illinois landlord who brutally murdered a young Palestinian boy over his religion has died in custody.

Joseph Czuba, 73, died on Thursday while in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, officials from the Will County Sheriff’s Office announced on Saturday.

Czuba’s cause of death has not yet been determined, but his lawyer has previously said he had stage 4 cancer, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

His death comes just months after he was sentenced to serve more than 50 years behind bars for the October 2023 stabbing death of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi.

Authorities have said Czuba had targeted Aflayoumi and his mother, Hanan Shaheen, over their Islamic faith in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 on Israel.

The little boy, who was Palestinian and born in the US, was stabbed 26 times in the frenzied attack inside their Plainfield home, which they had been renting from Czuba.

He was ultimately convicted in February of murder, attempted murder and hate crime charges and was sentenced to serve 53 years behind bars in May.

Wadee’s father, Odai Alfayoumi, said he is now grateful that the landlord lived long enough ‘for justice to be served.’

Joseph Czuba, 73, an Illinois landlord who was convicted earlier this year of murdering a young Palestinian boy, has died in custody 

Czuba was found guilty in February of the stabbing death of Wadee Alfayoumi, six

Jurors had deliberated for less than an hour and a half before they handed down their verdict earlier this year in the murder of the young boy, which Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak called ‘brutal and heinous.’

They had heard detailed testimony from police officers, medical teams, Czuba’s ex-wife and Shaheen during the trial how the landlord started spewing anti-Muslim rhetoric when the war in Gaza started.

Shaheen, for example, told how her family had not had any prior issues in the two years they rented from the Czubas. They shared a kitchen and living room with the Czubas.

But after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. 

He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.

‘He told me “You, as a Muslim, must die,”‘ said Shaheen, who testified in English and Arabic though a translator. 

At that point, Czuba went after her son in a different room, where Alfayoumi was later found naked with a knife still in his side. 

Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover. The boy was later pronounced dead. 

Czuba also stabbed the boy’s mother, Hanan Shaheen

The family had been renting a room from Czuba inside his home at the time of the incident 

Police officers also testified that they found Czuba outside the house sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands. 

He told the cops he thought ‘they were going to do jihad on me’ and compared the family to ‘infested rats.’

Jurors were even shown graphic photos from the murder, a knife-holder Czuba used to attack the mother and son and police video footage.

At times, video screens showing explicit footage were turned away from the public viewing audience, where members of Wadee’s family sat during the trial. 

Following the verdict, Odai Alfayomi – who also filed a civil lawsuits over the boy’s death – told reporters: ‘I don´t know if I should be pleased or upset, if I should be crying or laughing.

‘People are telling me to smile. Maybe if I were one of you, I would be smiling, but I´m the father of the child and I’ve lost the child. And I feel like this decision came a little too late.’ 

The little boy was stabbed 26 times in the frenzied attack inside their Plainfield home

Meanwhile, Ahmed Rehab – the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Chicago branch – said the Islamophobia Czuba displayed still persists in the United States.

‘This depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well,’ he said in a statement.

‘Wadee was stabbed to death 26 times for being Palestinian. Two years later, even as we speak, thousands of Gazan children are being shot, bombed and starved to death for being Palestinian.

‘It’s the hate that must die,’ he concluded.