Johnny Wactor's Co-Worker Speaks Out After He Was Killed Shielding Her (2024)

By

Paige Gawley

Anita Joy is breaking her silence. Days after Johnny Wactordied shielding Joy during a Los Angeles shooting on May 25, his bartending co-worker took to Instagram to address the tragic incident.

"I've needed to take some time to collect myself and my thoughts," Joy began her lengthy post on Wednesday. "I was with Johnny in his last moments and I'm here to be his voice after such unimaginable events."

Joy added, "He was killed senselessly by a coward who reacted without care of the gorgeous life he was taking. So I'm angry, I'm sad and I'm all of the feelings and once... but above all, I am here for Johnny's justice."

According to Joy, the shooting occurred early Saturday morning when she and theGeneral Hospitalactor, 37, were leaving their bartending shift.

"My friend of 8 years went from laughing together, working side by side, leaving our bartending shift and walking to our cars, to him dying in my arms in the streets of DTLA in the dark hours of 3am," she wrote, adding that the "basic details of this horrific story" boils down "to a few criminals trying to steal a car part."

"Everything happened in an instant,"Joy continued. "I've come to describe it as a glass of water that gets tipped over and you're scrambling to grab it and save it from spilling out completely but it just runs through your fingertips and is gone."

In her post, Joy said that she and Wactor "cautiously approached the men, questioning what they were doing, at first thinking the car was being towed."

"We were no threat and Johnny kept his cool as he always did, simply stating that it was his car and for them to leave. Hands open to his sides in peace," Joy wrote. "Johnny was between me and the man who shot him - as I heard the shot ring into the night, he forcefully tumbled back into my arms and as I grabbed for him, I shouted, 'Hunny you ok?!' And he only responded, 'Nope! Shot!'"

With that, Joy said that she and Wactor "toppled onto the street," where she "tried to hold his body up" as she was "screaming for help and screaming at him to stay with me."

A security guard named Bryan soon ran into the street with 911 on the phone, Joy said. Then, she and the Bryan "tied my denim jacket" around Wactor in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Bryan, Joy said, tried to perform CPR on Wactor.

"I'm so thankful for Bryan showing up, trying with all his might to save Johnny," Joy wrote. "It was too close range, too extreme of a wound for him to survive it but my god, he fought to stay."

Now, Joy wrote that she is "utterly heartbroken and so very angry."

"My only peace is that I was with him and this didn't happen to him alone," she wrote. "My only other peace will be seeing these awful men brought to justice."

In the caption of her post, Joy described Wactor as a person and shared more about her relationship with him.

"Johnny had this incredible ability that was truly just his genuine nature - to make anyone and everyone feel so special in his eyes. No matter how well you knew him, he treated everyone like he truly cared about you," she wrote. "He lit up any room - you couldn't not smile around him. His energy was magnetic and pulled you in so effortlessly - you were safe with him."

"He treated everyone with love, respect, compassion and he really 'saw' you," Joy added. "He was beautiful, goofy as hell, full of work ethic and values, he never put people down, even when joking, he never made you feel unsure of yourself - he knew how to be hilarious in such a positive way and it just made him that much more lovable. It just filled your heart to be around him."

Joy continued, "He called me 'Anita Bonita' and I hope the stamp of his voice saying that every time I saw him never leaves my memory."

"Just one look into his big blue eyes, followed by a big goofy grin, Johnny made you love him instantly," she stated. "Absolutely one of the best men I've ever known. I'm so grateful to have been a part of his world and him, mine. My heart is shattered with his loss but I believe l have gained the best guardian Angel out there. I love you Johnny Wacky."

Joy concluded her post by asking for the night club where she and Wactor worked to provide parking for their late-night staff and by encouraging her followers to donate to the late actor's GoFundMecampaign, set up by his family.

After Wactorwas shot and killed on Saturday, his mom, Scarlett, and two brothers, Lance and Grant, appeared virtually onGood Morning Americato addressthe tragedy, calling the late actor "a wonderful person."

Meanwhile, in a statement to ET,General Hospitalproducers spoke out about the situation. Wactor, who played Brando Corbin on the soap opera, was remembered as a "truly one of a kind and a pleasure to work with each and every day."

Johnny'sex-fiancée,Tessa Farrell, broke her silence on TikTok, calling him "a bright soul." Then, in an interview with ET, Farrell praised her ex for being chivalrous in his final moments, saying, "He was a very noble man and always did the right thing. And I'm not surprised by that at all because he was kind of the guy that would step up and do the right thing."

On Wednesday, ET obtained theLos Angeles County Coroner's report, which confirmed that Wactor died by homicide, with the manner of death being a gunshot wound to the chest.

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