A man accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in an attack on a Palestinian-American woman and her young son has pleaded not guilty following his indictment by a grand jury in Illinois in the United States.
Joseph Czuba, 71, is charged in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and the wounding of Hanaan Shahin on October 14. Authorities said the victims were targeted because of their Muslim faith and as a response to the Israel-Hamas war.
Shahin told police that Czuba, her landlord in Plainfield in Will County, was upset over the war and attacked them after she had urged him to “pray for peace”.
Czuba appeared in court Monday wearing a red jail uniform, socks and yellow rubber slippers.
His attorney George Lenard entered the not guilty plea after the judge read the eight-count indictment. Czuba did not speak, looking down at the podium with his hands folded behind his back as he stood before the judge in the court in Joliet, 80km (50 miles) southwest of Chicago.
Shahin, 32, is recovering from multiple stab wounds. Hundreds of people attended her son’s October 16 funeral, where he was remembered as an energetic boy who loved playing games. He had recently had a birthday.
Original from www.aljazeera.com rnrn