The 71-year-old man accused in the fatal stabbing of the 6-year-old boy in Illinois, which also seriously wounded his mother, was motivated by the Israel-Hamas war, officials say.

The home where a boy was killed and a woman critically injured after they were stabbed by a man who targeted them because they were Muslim is shown in Plainfield, Ill., Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Muslim Boy, 6, Mourned in Illinois After Attack Called Hate Crime.