WBBM Newsradio: 6 year old boy slain in hate crime memorialized

A monument now stands in a southwest suburban park as a symbol against hate

By Brandon Ison | June 29, 20254:46 pm

A shadow-like silhouette monument, representing the figure of 6-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume, is unveiled in the Van Horn Woods East Playground Plainfield, IL., the same playground where the boy had once played, before being stabbed to death in a 2023 hate crime. Photo credit Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago

Plainfield, IL. (WBBM Newsradio) - A large crowd, including leaders within the local Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim-American communities, gathered in the Van Horn Woods East Playground in Plainfield, IL. It’s the same playground where Wadea al-Fayoume once played, before the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed 26 times while protecting his mother inside their Plainfield home, during a violent attack in 2023 by their landlord, who would later be convicted of First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Battery, and Hate Crime.

Wadea’s father, Odai al-Fayoume, made an unexpected appearance at the unveiling of this monument, a shadow-like silhouette of Wadea, holding a bright red heart above his shoulder.

Wadea al-Fayoume's father, Odai al-Fayoume, made an unexpected appearance at the unveiling of this monument, a shadow-like silhouette of 'Wadee', holding a bright red heart. June 28, 2025. Photo credit CAIR-Chicago

Speaking through an interpreter, Odai told the crowd, which included Plainfield Mayor John Argoudelis, that when he had first come to the United States he was alone, with Wadea’s birth they had become two.

“I had a young beautiful son who was everything to me and then he was taken from me, and I was one again”, said al-Fayoume, “but now I feel like we’re so many. You’re all my family. You’re all my extended family now.”

When describing the monument, one of several artists collaborating on the project, for which funding donors were so numerous that many had to be turned away, Syed “Saif” Rahman explained that while short, Wadea’s life touched many hearts and opened the eyes of the community to an urgent need for compassion, unity, and justice.

“This art was created to preserve [Wadee’s] spirit. A silhouette of a young boy holding a heart. It’s simple, yet powerful. The heart symbolizes the love that he gave, that love that he deserved, and the love that we must carry forward in his name,” said Rahman.

“I feel privileged that I was able to get to know him and associate his personality with that face,” said teacher Trisha Mathias, referring to a picture of her former student that has been widely circulated across the world, in which Wadea is wearing a brimmed hat and a big childish grin. It is this picture that serves as a model for the silhouetted monument, and it’s said that he had been drawing a picture of a heart at the time it was taken, though that heart is not visible in the photo.

Wadea died while attempting to protect his mother, Hanan Shaneen, who was also stabbed several times in the anti-Muslim hate crime. She suffered serious injuries, the most serious being the loss of her young son.

“Every single time I got to talk to her on the phone, or in an email, or anytime, he was always her ‘sweet sweet boy’ and that sums him up, her sweet sweet boy”, adds Mathias.

Wadea al-Fayoume has become a global symbol in the fight against hatred, leading to bipartisan action at the federal level to further broaden the scope of what is considered a hate crime. In Illinois, a state resolution has marked September 21st as Wadea al-Fayoume Day. The date coincides with the International Day of Peace.

Soha Khatib with the Palestinian Youth Movement also spoke at the unveiling. She grew up in Bolingbrook, IL. near its border with Plainfield. She grew up doing girls scouts in Plainfield and attending the American Girl Book Club at the Plainfield library, with her sister, where they read books about American Girl dolls.

“Plainfield used to be a place that I associated with memories of childhood and innocence. Wadea’s murder reminded me that Palestinian people are denied innocence in this world. We are denied adolescence, we are adultified in a world that calls us terrorists and reduces our deaths to numbers before we can even ask why,” said Khatib.

Khatib placed blame for Wadea al-Fayoume’s murder not just on his convicted physical killer, then 73-year-old Joseph Czuba, but on the narratives by media outlets across the world.

“Every single media outlet that has perpetuated Israeli lies,” Khatib said, “this was the doing of a propaganda machine that has worked tirelessly to dehumanize Palestinian men, women, and children as a means to justifying their murders.”

The monument dedication follows the recent conviction of [Wadee’s] killer who was found guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and a hate crime. Wadea’s tragic murder sent shockwaves through the nation and galvanized public outcry. The ceremony reaffirms the community’s commitment to peace, remembrance, and justice against bigotry.

“This monument acts as a memorial to the beautiful life of Wadee, a statement against the anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hate that took his young life, and a testament that he will never be forgotten,” said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago.

Van Horn Woods East Playground in Plainfield, IL. The same playground where Wadea al-Fayoume once played, before the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed 26 times while protecting his mother inside their Plainfield home, during a violent attack in 2023 by their landlord, who would later be convicted of First-Degree Murder along with Hate Crime. Photo credit CAIR-Chicago