Landlord convicted of killing Plainfield Township Muslim child died of natural causes in prison

A former Plainfield Township landlord who was convicted of the 2023 hate crime murder of a Muslim child died from natural causes.

On Wednesday, Randolph County Coroner Tracy Vallett said Joseph Czuba, 73, died of natural causes while in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections.

“Due to 24-hour medical care, an autopsy was not ordered,” Vallett said.

Czuba died July 24 at the Menard Correctional Center in Randolph County, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Czuba’s attorney, George Lenard, said he didn’t know his client’s cause and manner of death, but he knew he had stage 4 cancer.

The Herald-News was the first to report on July 25 that the Will County Sheriff’s Office received notification of Czuba’s death.

Czuba was sentenced in May to serve 53 years in prison following his conviction of the Oct. 14, 2023, first-degree murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of the child’s mother, Hanan Shaheen.

Part of that sentence included 30 years for Wadee’s murder and 20 years for Shaheen’s attempted murder.

The sentence also included three years for a hate crime. Czuba was convicted of attacking the mother and child on the basis of their Islamic faith.