Anita Joy has broken her silence days after her bartending co-worker, actor Johnny Wactor, died shielding her during a Los Angeles shooting.
Earlier this week it was confirmed that the "General Hospital" star died Saturday at age 37 after being shot during a suspected robbery. It later emerged that he was trying to protect a female friend from the line of fire. That woman has now spoken out, sharing an account of the harrowing experience.
"I've needed to take some time to collect myself and my thoughts," Joy wrote in a lengthy Instagram post Wednesday. "I was with Johnny in his last moments and I'm here to be his voice after such unimaginable events."
Joy wrote that Wactor 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," she continued.
The incident took place early Saturday morning when Joy and Wactor 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" came down "to a few criminals trying to steal a car part."
"Everything happened in an instant," she wrote. "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."
Joy recounted how 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!' "
Joy recalled "screaming for help and screaming at him to stay with me" as a security guard named Bryan responded and called for 911. He then 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."
Joy wrote how she was "utterly heartbroken and so very angry."
"My only peace is that I was with him and this didn't happen to him alone," she added. "My only other peace will be seeing these awful men brought to justice."
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1986, Wactor made his television debut in the Lifetime drama series "Army Wives." He later landed guest roles in various shows including "Westworld," "The OA," and "Criminal Minds," according to The Guardian.
Between 2020 and 2022, Wactor portrayed the character Brando Corbin in over 160 episodes of "General Hospital."