WILL COUNTY, Ill. (WGN) A jury on Friday found a Plainfield landlord guilty of killing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy and stabbing his mother in a hate-filled attack.

Jurors deliberated for roughly an hour on Friday following earlier closing arguments, their unanimous decision announced just hours before the start of Ramadan.

Joseph Czuba, 73, faced charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and hate crimes in the October 2023 attack that killed Wadee al-Fayoumi, and wounded his mother, Hanan Shaheen.

“I don’t know if I should be pleased or upset, if I should be crying or laughing,” the boy’s father, Odai Alfayoumi, said in Arabic in a post-verdict press conference. “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 to a little too late.”

Authorities alleged that Czuba who was renting rooms to the pair in his home targeted them because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted days earlier.

“When he was targeted, all our children were targeted,” said CAIR-Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab of al-Fayoumi. “Every Muslim was targeted when (Czuba) yelled, ‘All Muslims must die.’ And Wadee happened to be the sacrificial lamb. But he wasn’t targeted for Wadee. He was targeted for who he was as a Palestinian, as a Muslim.”

Heena Musabji, CAIR-Chicago’s legal director, said: “Our justice system has spoken. There is no room for hate in our country and communities.”

Sunset Friday brings the start of Ramadan, a month of fasting, community and reflection in the Muslim faith.

“It’s a moment to grieve Wadee but it’s a moment to also ask what are we doing to ensure that Wadee is the last,” said Amina Barhumi of the Muslim Civic Coalition. “Hate is relentless, but we must be just as fierce and stronger. Transformation begins with us and our relationships with each other.”

The trial featured squad car video of Czuba making racist comments and detailed testimony from police officers, medical workers and Czuba’s now ex-wife. Shaheen, the prosecution’s first witness, described how Czuba attacked her with a knife before going after her son in a different room. Investigators have said the boy was stabbed 26 times. He was found with a knife still in his body.

The case generated headlines around the world and comes amid rising hostility against Muslims and Palestinians in the country.

Musabji said crimes against Muslims are underreported, adding that they’re up nearly 200 percent since the attack on the Plainfield family.