General Hospital
Johnny Wactor’s Co-Worker, Anita Joy, Speaks Out For First Time Since His Fatal Shooting and Saving Her Life
Those who knew Johnny Wactor (ex-Brando Corbin, GH) were well aware of what an upstanding man he was. As tributes poured in when news that the General Hospital alum was shot and killed by one of three car thieves, they all spoke to his qualities as a human being.
Over the first 24 hours since his passing, the public learned Wactor lost his life putting himself in front of a female co-worker when confronted by his assailants, following their shift at a downtown LA bar. The thieves were attempting to steal his catalytic converter from his vehicle.
Now. Wactor’s former co-work, Anita Joy, has spoken out for the first time via her Instagram account of what happened on that fateful morning and her remembrances accompanied by photos and videos with Johnny. As many now know, Johnny died a hero.
Photo: AJoyInstagram
Anita began, “I’ve needed to take some time to collect myself and my thoughts. I was with Johnny in his last moments and I’m here to be his voice after such unimaginable events. His story is in this post as it happened, please swipe through the top photos and read it. Early Saturday morning (May 25) after our bartending shift Friday night at Level 8 in DTLA.”
“He was killed senselessly by a coward who reacted without care of the gorgeous life he was taking,” Joy shared. 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. 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 street of DTLA in the dark hours of 3am.”
She went on to say, “Everything happened in an instant. 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 said that she and Wactor, “cautiously approached the men questioning what they were doing, at first thinking the car was being towed.”
Photo: ABC
“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 recounted. “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 as I grabbed for him I shouted, ‘Hunny, you OK?’ And he only responded, ‘Nope! Shot!’ Joy went on to say that she and Johnny “toppled onto the street” where she was trying to hold his body up as she was screaming for help and screaming at Johnny to “stay with me.”
Next, Joy details that a security guard named Bryan ran into the street and phoned 911. Anita wrote, “I’m so thankful for Bryan showing up, trying with all his might to save Johnny. My only peace is that I was him and this didn’t happen to him alone. My other peace will be seeing these awful men brought to justice.”
Speaking on Wactor’s character, Joy added, “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. 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.”
Photo: ABC
“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,” she recalled. Johnny made you love him instantly,” Joy added. “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.”
Anita then addressed the crime that took Johnny’s life and how Level 8 did not provide parking for its late night shift workers. Joy explained, “These criminals need to be caught – Level 8 needs to provide parking for their late hour staff as they originally promised- This cannot be something that isn’t responded to with action, it needs to be addressed in a manner to prevent anything like this ever happening again to the best of their ability – Level 8 needs to contribute to Johnny’s family to honor and respect him for all the hard work and effort he did for them.”
Photo: AJoyIG
Speaking on GoFundMe page that has been set for Wactor, Anita spoke about Johnny’s family, expressing, “They are on the other side of the country and it’s going to be a lot on them emotionally and financially to get Johnny home to them.”
What do you think about Anita’s account of Johnny dying in her arms after shielding her from the thieves who were trying to steal his catalytic converter in his car? Her remembrances of the man she became friends and co-workers with? Comment below.
I am glad she was with him and he was not alone. I hope that she will remain strong going forward and I hope that the workplace will do the right thing in making sure their workers are safe when leaving so late, they have to do the right thing, had the business taken action earlier this could have been prevented.
The business didn’t know that this would have happened.
Its downtown L.A., its a crap hole, of course this is going to happen!
That section of downtown is far from “a crap hole” with many new apartments sprouting up. That said, I wouldn’t likely walk solo at 3am in the morning.
Ok, Jesus.
Her point being the employer knew the late night staff had previously expressed their concerns about safety. Her words: “Level 8 needs to provide parking for their late hour staff as they originally promised”
Right or wrong, I’d bet a civil suit against the employer is on the way.
Yes, sadly, the employer should’ve provided employee parking for it’s late night staff. The more details we learn, the sadder this becomes. Prayers for her. Prayers for Johnny’s family.
If you read the news, you’ll see that these brazen criminals are stealing those Catalitic Converters right in owner’s driveways. They will go to any means to obtain them and unfortunately there really isn’t a safe place except for a locked garage and who knows how far these scumbags will go to get what they want
Level 8 should definitely have provided employee parking. Especially for those who work so late.
Johnny sounds like he was a great guy.
Michael,
Saying I’m gutted is so melodramatic, so I’ll just skip the hyperbole.
Reading something horrific about someone you lived with is awful beyond belief.
I knew Johnny for a brief time. In fact, he was my roommate for a very short time in the San Fernando Valley. We shared the same disgusting landlord. I have to be honest. When I first heard his name I was like an Actor by the name of Wactor. I thought it was some kind of joke but it was the truth and I actually have a famous name (none of the money) so I get it.
Johnny was a very charismatic guy who at that time was getting his life together and was doing the acting thing. This was before his stint on General Hospital.
Johnny was a nice, generous young man who you can’t help but want to be around, always wanted to be positive regardless if people deserved it or not. He was definitely not hard on the eyes.
I was sad to see Johnny move on from the apartment and I was overjoyed when he landed the General Hospital gig. I was heartbroken to hear he was released from the show for “storyline purposes.”
I sincerely hope that the despicable pieces of human excrement involved with this killing will be looking up from the lowest pit of Hell for all eternity.
Rest easy and thank you for being part of my life, Johnny. God bless you. My prayers are with your friends and your loved ones at this truly terrible time.
Thank you for your kind and sincere account of Johnny’s last day . I live in the San Diego area and worried when a few years ago my granddaughter worked at bartending and faced the same scary situation of walking to a parking area at 3AM. I think any large city faces these unsafe issues, not just L.A as depicted by a lot of fans here. I’m sorry this happened to Anita and her dear friend ,Johnny. We only knew him as a beloved actor that we saw on our TV screen but this is something she’ll carry forever. Hopefully, her memories, nightmares, etc will lesson in time.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Carly and Lulu Make Plans to Rescue Their Children; Anna Looks Determined to Secure Her Freedom
This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the race is on! Can Lulu (Alexa Havins) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) get to Rocco (Finn Carr) and Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) in time to ensure their safety from Cullum (Andrew Hawkes)? Can Carly (Laura Wright) with the help of her brother, Lucas (Van Hansis) rescue Josslyn (Eden McCoy) from captivity at Wyndemere? These questions may be answered, plus the return of the one and only Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) are on tap!
In the just released General Hospital spoilers video for the week of June 22-26, Lulu tells her mother, Laura (Genie Francis), “Dante and I have to get to Rocco before Cullum!” Meanwhile, Rocco (Finn Carr) looks angered and emotional as Britt walks through their cabin hideout. Does Rocco know his parents are on the way to find them, or has Cullum already tracked them down to the British Virgin Islands?
Back in Port Charles, Carly is informing Lucas that his niece, “is a WSB agent.” She knows Josslyn (Eden McCoy) is being held against her will at Wyndemere, and she has to find a way to get her out. Lucas agrees with Carly’s plan of, “We go in and we don’t leave without Josslyn!” Elsewhere, Josslyn is looking worried for her future as she is stuck in captivity thanks to Cassius, Cullum and Sidwell!
Courtesy/ABC
FINOLA HUGHES RETURNS
The final moments of the teaser promo reveal Anna in a psychiatric clinic in France. We have not seen her for months after Cullum, Sidwell and Pascal fed her hallucinogenics to make her believe her arch nemesis, Cesar Faison was alive!
Now, the doctors walk towards her hospital bed, where we see the super spy calmly knitting. Is Anna back to normal and playing everyone to get out of her predicament, or does she still remain deeply traumatized … or both?
Take a look at the rest of the official GH spoilers for the week below.
MONDAY, JUNE 22
Willow gets an unwelcome surprise. Trina sticks to her guns. “Nathan” wants reassurance. Ethan advises Ava. Brook Lynn receives an update.
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
Dante cautions Liz. Laura learns a secret. Brook Lynn confides in Michael. Sonny challenges Ava. Chase makes a decision.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
Anna meets with her doctor. Carly makes a stunning confession. Britt extracts a promise. Cullum pulls a fast one. Gio and Emma hit the pool.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25
Josslyn clashes with Cassius. Lulu and Dante make a discovery. Chase receives a warning. Jordan seeks help. Alexis is summoned to the PCPD.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Anna takes a huge risk. Britt is in grave danger. Willow is in disbelief. Danny must act fast. Curtis jumps to the wrong conclusion.
Check out the latest General Hospital promo entitled, “Rescue Mission” below.
Now weigh-in: Do you think Anna is still mentally off-balance, or OK, and just pretending to be troubled to get out of France and get back to Port Charles? Will Josslyn finally be rescued, or will Carly and Lucas find themselves locked up with her? And, who will get to Britt and Rocco first? Cullum, or Dante and Lulu? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Maurice Benard Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ Writers; Teases Upcoming Sonny Scenes with Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric
With the highly-anticipated returns of Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) on this week’s June 24 episode of General Hospital, Steve Burton’s (Jason Morgan) upcoming return on July 13, which also serves as the ABC daytime drama’s 16,000 episode, things are about to fire on all cylinders in the story, as noted today by series star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos).
On Father’s Day, the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning actor and mental health activist took to his Instagram and expressed in a video that he has some unbelievable upcoming senes with the aforementioned Burton and Hughes. Add to that Nazneen Contractor (Justine Turner) and Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), where Benard gave credit where credit is due to the GH writing team, which is led by co-head writers, Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten..
In this video, Benard said, “I just want to get on here and say that I did some work with Steve Burton, Finola Hughes, Rick Hearst, Nazneen Contractor, and they’re all just fantastic. Truly fantastic. But, I want to say the writing was just exceptional. It truly was. It was exceptional. So, thankful for that kind of writing. I know writers don’t get the credit a lot, but I just want to say to the General Hospital writing team, keep rolling!”
GENERAL HOSPITAL PREVIEW
So now the question becomes, with a major tease like that, what is about to go down between Sonny, Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric? Will we finally get to the end of the line for Sidwell (Carlo Rota), as previously teased by the GH co-head writers? Will we learn what happened to Jason and Anna, fully? Will Justine and Sonny becomes closer or stop their liaisons? And what of Ric? Will he be true blue to his brother or double-cross him? There is a lot at stake as we move further into the summer and one that looks like it could be one of the more exciting ones in years!
FINOLA HUGHES CONFIRMED AMAZING SCENES WITH MAURICE BENARD
As a punctuation point to his video, Benard also shared this written message in the post: “I just did some wonderful scenes with Steve Burton, Rick Hearst, Finola Hughes and Nazneen Contractor and and unbelievable writing, freaking amazing scenes that you will see in the near future on General Hospital.” In fact, Finola Hughes jumped in the post comment thread and responded, “I loved our scenes so much xxx”
Fans will most likely see all the scenes Benard referred to later in July, since GH tapes approximately six weeks ahead of air.
So, are you excited to see what Maurice is talking about? Are you hyped for what’s to come on GH? Any clue on what you think will go down between the main characters on the soap with the returns of Anna Devane and Jason Morgan to the mix? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Announces Upcoming Release of His First Single, ‘If You Need Me’
In a surprise move, Daytime Emmy winner, Chad Duell (ex-Michael Corinthos, GH) is getting ready to unveil a new chapter of his career in music.
The former GH star, where he played the son of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) for 15 years, has announced his new single, “If You Need Me” will drop on Friday, June 26. The single is now available for pre-order on Spotify and major music streaming platforms and is distributed by DistroKid.
Taking to his Instagram story over the weekend, to announce the pre-save of his new single, Chad expressed, “I’ll make a full post about what I’ve been up to and my music once it goes live next week, but you can pre-save my first single so it goes straight to your Spotify once it drops next week.”
Photo: CDuellIG
SINCE LEAVING GENERAL HOSPITAL
Previously, since his departure from the ABC soap opera. Chad starred alongside Zach Mendez in the world premiere of of Yum Yum at Annapolis, a new play written by Bruce Reisman. Duell last appeared on General Hospital on the January 21, 2025 episode.
The part was recast with Rory Gibson who debuted as the new Michael in May of 2025 during the Nurses’ Ball episodes and who has remained in the role since that time.
In an interview earlier this year on The Able Show, Duell said on his decision to exit the soap opera, “I was blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have, but what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”
So, what type of musical genre will Chad’s new song be? Country? Pop? Rock? Dance/Club? Something else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below, and if you are eager to hear the new single next week via the comment section below.
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Deidre Hall Marks 50 Years as ‘Days of Our Lives’ Dr. Marlena Evans
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GENERAL HOSPITAL Promo: Rocco’s in a Panic as Britt’s Health Takes a Turn, Chase is Called to the Carpet
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Y&R Preview: Matt Clark Asks Phyllis on a Date, Would You Be Down for the Pairing? Roger Howarth & Michelle Previously in GH’s Franco/Nina Romance
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