Celebrity News May 31, 2024
Johnny Wactor’s Friends Ask for Public’s Help to Bring Killer to Justice
Johnny Wactor’s friends are flooding social media with a public call to action.
The “General Hospital” star was allegedly shot and killed by car thieves on Saturday, but the suspects have not been caught.
A flyer posted on social media asks for “Justice for Johnny Wactor,” adding, “We are urging Councilmember Kevin de León (District 14) to support our plea for #JusticeForJohnny by bringing urgency to this investigation, so we can find these suspects and ensure we don’t lose any more innocent lives to another senseless murder in Los Angeles! Please help!”
The post includes a series of phone numbers and emails for reaching out to the councilman and his staff.
The flyer was posted by stars like by stars like Amy Tsang and Emily Alabi, and Micah Joe Parker spoke about it on Nate Buzolic's Instagram account too.
The call to action comes after Wactor’s friend and coworker Anita Joy opened up about what unfolded that night.
They were leaving work after a bartending shift at Level 8 in downtown L.A. when they came upon car thieves, who reportedly shot Johnny without provocation.
Recounting the tragic night, she wrote, “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 the feelings at once… but above all, I am here for Johnny’s justice.”
She went on, “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.”
Joy later added, “We 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. 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!’ We toppled onto the street where I pushed my legs under him and tried to hold his body up while screaming for help and screaming at him to stay with me.”
She said that soon after, a security guard from work named Bryan came upon the scene. He “ran to us with 911 on the phone - we tied my denim jacket around him to stop the bleeding and Bryan proceeded to try CPR on him. I’m so thankful for Bryan showing up, trying with all his might to save Johnny. It was too close range, too extreme of a wound for him to survive it but my god, he fought to stay.”
Joy continued, “I am utterly heartbroken and so very angry. My only peace is that I was with him and this didn’t happen to him alone - my only other peace will be seeing these awful men brought to justice.”
“Extra’s” Melvin Robert recently spoke with Johnny’s mother Scarlett and brothers Grant and Lance, who said they are devastated by his murder.
Grant didn’t think the news was “real” at first. He said, “I called him, three or four times, tried to text him… No one was 100% sure… That is what they had been told by friends of friends… I was calling the hospital, called the police as many times I could, had a hard time getting through until I finally got somebody to put me in touch with the detective. Once I got a hold of the detective, we were pretty confident that we were right.”
“It was mostly shocking and not thinking that it was real,” Grant noted of how he felt in that moment. “You can’t make sense of it.”
Lance spoke with Johnny “six days before” the tragedy, saying, “Had a nice conversation with him and didn’t think that would be the last time I would have one with him.”
He emphasized, “The worst part is that you don’t get another one.”
According to Scarlett, Johnny would have given the car to the thieves.
When asked if they were surprised that he stepped in front of his co-worker, Grant commented, “Nothing surprised me about it.”