About seven months after Richard Proctor was found guilty of fatally stabbing 28-year-old Ryan Connell, family members shared Wednesday asked a Will County judge to give Proctor a life sentence.

A jury found Proctor, 30, of Steger, guilty of the stabbing death in August after a nine-day trial.

“I hope your sentence is miserable,” Connell’s stepmom, Rachel Teneyuca, told Proctor. “I hope you hate waking up every day. I hope you hate being told what to do, when to do it and how to do it. You are a disgusting waste of human flesh to murder my son the way you did, to try to hire someone to kill the witness and then sit here in court and whine like you were being picked on after all this is beyond disgusting.”

Judge Kenneth Zelazo will issue Proctor’s sentence on March 25.

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.

Connell’s body was found by police 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 fled to a relative’s house a mile away, where his sweater was eventually recovered and found to have Connell’s blood on the sleeves, prosecutors said. The knife recovered from the scene containing Connell’s blood was bent at an almost 90-degree angle, they said.

Steger police later learned Proctor’s girlfriend was picked up at a nearby gas station by an acquaintance who ultimately called 911 asking law enforcement to check on the residence, prosecutors said.

Proctor maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming Connell was his close friend.

He admitted to pulling a butcher knife from Connell’s back but said he could not remember how the knife ended up there, due to being heavily intoxicated.

“Friends, best friends, family. You used those words to describe your relationship with our Ryan,” Connell’s aunt, Lori Fugate, said to Proctor. “You don’t know what any of those words mean.”

During the trial, Proctor also blamed Hannah Kuckuck for the death, his alleged girlfriend and one of the last people at his apartment the night Connell was killed, 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.

Connell’s family members said Proctor, who represented himself, repeatedly delayed the trial while preparing his defense, making it difficult to find closure. During the trial, several outbursts by Proctor delayed proceedings and led Zelazo to hold him in criminal contempt.

“As we continued to come to court and watch Richard Proctor disrespect the judicial system, it feels like he is still brutalizing our family,” Teneyuca said. “I watch him breathe, listen to him speak and all I can think is how Ryan will never be able to do that again. And here Richard Proctor sits. Acting arrogant. Acting as if he is not being treated fairly.”

Proctor, who had refused assistance from Assistant Public Defender Zach Strupeck throughout the trial, requested Strupeck to represent him in his motion for a new trial. Judge Zelazo agreed to appoint Strupeck, but denied the motion for a new trial in February, court records show.

Teneyuca told Zelazo she holds Proctor responsible not only for Ryan’s death, but also for the deaths of his father, Scott Connell, and his brothers, Nicholas and Sean Connell.

“Ryan’s murder was more than Scott could handle and I found him passed away from an overdose on Jan. 10, 2020,” she said. “We lost Ryan on Jan. 1, so this was less than two weeks later and my children have now lost their brother and their father. And as far as I am concerned, Richard Proctor is responsible for both.”

Teneyuca said Ryan’s oldest brother, Nicholas Connell, 32, was found dead in his apartment May 10, 2021. Then, on Sept. 22, 2022, his younger brother, Sean Connell, 26, was found dead in his apartment.

“My daughter went from being the only girl of four kids, to being the only child left,” she said. “Yes, I 100% blame Richard Proctor for not only Ryan’s death, but also Scott, Nicholas and Sean.”

Teneyuca attributes all three deaths to the grief and pain caused by losing Ryan.

Proctor is eligible for a mandatory prison sentence of 20 to 60 years, with no chance for early release, according to a news release from Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office shared after Proctor’s conviction.

“Let him live behind bars forever where he doesn’t get to make choices that destroy people and entire families ever again,” Teneyuca said.

smoilanen@chicagotribune.com