2023-10-17 14:02:00
(CNN) — In the photo that introduced Wadea Al-Fayoume to millions of people for the first time, the kindergartner is seen celebrating his sixth birthday at his home near Chicago.
With one hand on a blue hat that says “Happy Birthday” on his head, Wadea stands in the warm light of the house, surrounded by gifts. On a shelf behind him is a wooden sign proclaiming “home.” A birthday video is seen playing on the living room TV.
Inside that same home, and just eight days following that photo was taken, Wadea was stabbed 26 times by the homeowner because he was Muslim, authorities said. The “ongoing conflict in the Middle East involving Hamas and the Israelis” was the reason the boy and his mother, who also suffered more than a dozen stab wounds but survived, were attacked, according to the Sheriff’s Office of Will County.
The 71-year-old suspect has been charged with murder and hate crimes, among other charges, and was ordered held without bail during a court appearance Monday.
Wadea Al-Fayoume, pictured here at her home, celebrating her birthday. (Family Handout/CAIR-Chicago)
But Wadea knew nothing regarding the reasons that ultimately led to his brutal murder this Saturday, community advocates said this week.
Instead, they described him as a warm, kind child who focused on enjoying life with his friends and playing outdoors, and who loved his parents and family deeply.
In her final moments, Wadea offered words of comfort to her mother, a family member revealed Monday.
“His last words to his mother: ‘Mom, I’m fine,'” Wadea’s uncle, Yousef Hannon, told reporters. “You know what, he’s fine. He is in a better place.”
A boy who ‘loved everything’
In her short life, Wadea “loved everything,” from her parents to Legos to spending time with friends, Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said during a Sunday news conference.
“He loved everyone,” Rehab said. “He loved his parents, he loved his family and his friends, he loved life and hoped for a long, healthy and prosperous life.”
Wadea Al-Fayoume seen here in an undated image. (Family Handout/CAIR-Chicago)
And, like most children, Wadea loved to play, the principal said.
“He loved his toys, he loved anything that had a ball — basketball, soccer — he loved coloring, he loved swinging,” Rehab said.
Wadea’s parents are from a West Bank village, Rehab said. Her mother moved to the United States 12 years ago and her father moved nine years ago. Wadea was born in the United States.
“The boy’s Palestinian Muslim family came to the United States seeking what we all seek: a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,” President Joe Biden said in a statement responding to the killing. “This horrible act of hate has no place in America.”
Instead of returning to class this Monday and spending time with his friends, Wadea was buried.
Outside the mosque where the boy’s funeral services were held, Wadea’s father, uncle and community leaders gathered for a news conference.
Hannon, the uncle, spoke of Wadea in the present tense during a brief speech to reporters.
“He’s a 6-year-old boy,” Hannon said. “He is a very kind child, he likes to jump.”
Family Handout/CAIR-Chicago
Wadea’s mother, Hanaan Shahin, was unable to attend the services because she is still recovering in the hospital, Rehab said.
As she sits alone in a hospital room, Rehab said, the boy’s mother is “dealing with her wounds, dealing with her emotional trauma and dealing with the biggest hole that can never be filled, the biggest void of all: loss. of his son”.
A ‘shameful reminder’ of Islamophobia, says mayor
Moments before the attack unfolded, the suspect told Shahin that he was angry with her because of what was happening in Jerusalem, according to a court filing. She said they should “pray for peace” and the suspect attacked her with a knife, according to the document.
The mother locked herself in the bathroom to escape, but was not quick enough to get her son out. When she got to 911, “her son was being stabbed,” according to the file.
Officers responded to the home at approximately 11:38 am this Saturday. Wadea was pronounced dead at a hospital at 12:19 p.m., according to court documents.
Odey Al-Fayoume, the boy’s father, called for accountability for the murder and said Monday that he hoped something good might come from the tragedy.
“I am here because I am the father of the child, not because I am a politician or a religious cleric. “I am here as a father of a child whose rights were violated,” he said in Arabic.
Community members pray during Wadea Al-Fayoume’s funeral at the Mosque Foundation on October 16, 2023 in Bridgeview, Illinois. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images)
And local, state and federal leaders condemned the attack on the family and the reasons why they were attacked.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the killing a “shameful reminder of the destructive role Islamophobia plays in our society.”
“We mourn alongside his family and the Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities of our state as they face this unthinkable loss,” Johnson said on social media.
Mourners surround Wadea Al-Fayoume’s coffin as his family carries outside the Mosque Foundation, where they all attended a funeral prayer. (Jim Vondruska/Archyde.com)
“Every Palestinian child is equally beautiful, they have the same right to be mourned and when we mourn Wadea, we are mourning all those children and when we condemn the hatred that killed Wadea, we are condemning the hatred that killed all those children.” said Imam Omar Suleiman, founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, and associate professor of Islamic studies in the liberal studies graduate program at Southern Methodist University.
“What kind of hatred do you have to create in a man’s head so that he stands up to a 6-year-old child and stabs him 26 times?” he added. “I want each and every one of us to take a step back and evaluate our own humanity right now.”
CNN’s Sara Smart, Whitney Wild, Bill Kirkos and Nouran Salahieh contributed to this report.
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