Family members of Ryan Connell embraced one another Tuesday after a Will County judge sentenced Richard Proctor to 40 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Connell at a 2019 New Year’s Eve gathering.
Connell’s aunt, Lori Fugate, said she had a gut feeling the sentence would be close to 45 years, a number that kept popping up in her mind leading up to the hearing. When Will County Judge Kenneth Zelazo handed down the 40-year sentence, she wasn’t surprised to hear she wasn’t far off.
“He’s getting exactly what he deserves right now,” Fugate said.
The sentence came nearly seven months after a jury convicted Proctor, 30, of Steger, of first-degree murder in Connell’s death.
“I’m not going to complain. Would I have wanted more? Absolutely. But he got more than the minimum,” Connell’s stepmother, Rachel Teneyuca, said.
Proctor faced a mandatory prison sentence ranging from 20 to 60 years. Zelazo said he considered multiple factors: Proctor’s criminal history, his disruptive behavior during the trial resulting in two criminal contempt charges, the severity of the offense and the potential for rehabilitation, as well the family’s impact statements and Proctor’s statement at a hearing in March.
Zelazo also noted Proctor’s “inability to conform to societal norms” during the trial and his “attempts to conceal evidence.”
Zelazo dismissed the contempt charges, stating they were insignificant compared to the murder conviction.
Earlier this month, Teneyuca told Zelazo she holds Proctor responsible not only for Ryan’s death but also for the loss of his father, Scott Connell, and his brothers, Nicholas and Sean Connell, who all died within a few years of Ryan.
“Ryan is the first of Richard Proctor’s victims from my family,” Teneyuca said.
While Zelazo said he didn’t take into account the other family members’ deaths when deciding the sentence, Fugate said the 40-year term represents 10 years for each family member lost.
Fugate said she might finally find some closure now that Proctor has been sentenced.
Teneyuca, however, said she would never find closure and could never forgive.
Teneyuca met Ryan after she married his father when he was just 4 years old. She raised him and always considered him her son, she said.
Proctor “destroyed” her family, and the pain will always linger, she said.
Connell was attending a New Year’s Eve party at Proctor’s apartment when he suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries and four stab wounds to the back that punctured his lung, prosecutors said. Police found his body on Jan. 1, 2020, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Proctor killed Connell in a fit of rage, detailing how Proctor initially assaulted Connell, knocking him to the ground, then left the apartment. Surveillance footage showed Proctor running frantically back and forth across Chicago Avenue before returning to his residence, where he proceeded to stab Connell four times in the back, they said.
Proctor blamed his alleged girlfriend and one of the last people at his apartment the night Connell was killed, Hannah Kuckuck, for the death, prosecutors said. Proctor faces federal charges for attempting to have Kuckuck, a key witness for the state, killed by a former friend, Charles Miceli, who testified against him.
Ryan was living with his father at the time of his death. A laid-back, 28-year-old who was easygoing and quiet, Ryan had a way of quietly observing the world around him, his family said.
They chuckled as they recalled how Ryan would simply nod and mosey on by if he was present — never trying to be the center of attention.
“He was a little soft spoken, so when he talked people naturally quieted down to listen to him,” Teneyuca shared earlier this month. “And more likely than not, he had you laughing by the time he was done talking.”
Fugate wore a sweatshirt with the words “Let them” on the back — a phrase she’s trying to live by and feels perfectly describes Ryan.
He was a “let them” person, Fugate said. “He was a goofball, the sweetest smile, helpful — except with dishes.”
Teneyuca remembered with a laugh that Connell was the only person who could make scrambled eggs and somehow destroy the entire kitchen in the process.
“You would think the kid cooked an 11-course meal,” she said.
His younger sister, Jessica Connell, could certainly attest to that, she added.
Connell was also fiercely loyal to his family and friends, they said.
“Once you were in with him, you were in for good,” Teneyuca previously shared. “I used to say the term ‘Ride or Die’ could have been invented for Ryan and his group of friends.”
While he didn’t have a career ambition at the time, his dream was to have a family, Teneyuca said, a dream he will never get to fulfill.
Still, if Ryan was here, he would nod and keep on going, Fugate said.
Connell’s family is determined to attend every court date, continuing their fight for justice for Ryan, they said.
“Anytime something comes up that there’s a fight on this, we will be here,” Fugate said.
Assistant Public Defender Zach Strupeck, representing Proctor in his post trial motions, said he plans to file an appeal.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
