Anita Joy, the fellow bartender who witnessed former General Hospital star Johnny Wactor's shooting on May 25, has broken her silence about the night her friend died. Joy revealed that she and Wactor had worked together and been friends for eight years.
Joy took to Instagram the night of May 29 to tell the full story of what happened when she and Wactor left work after a night of bartending at the L.A. hot spot Level 8. She penned a beautiful tribute to her friend, as well as a heart-wrenching description of Wactor's last moments.
"I've needed to take some time to collect myself and my thoughts," Joy wrote "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."
Upon swiping through the pictures as asked, fans can find a harrowing tale of what happened when they found three men by Wactor's car. She explained why she felt she needed to come forward.
"There has been a lot within myself of 'what to and what not to' share about this, but the reality is, I have a responsibility to Johnny," she wrote. "I am his voice now because otherwise he would have possibly been alone and he wasn't."
At first, both Wactor and Joy thought his car was being towed, but they quickly learned that wasn't the case. She admitted that "everything happened in an instant" and likened the shooting to the moment you try to stop a glass of water from tipping over, but then it happens too fast.
"We cautiously approached the men, questioning what they were doing...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 side 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 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 with him to stay with me."
Finally, a security guard at Level 8 spotted them and called 9-1-1. He tried to help her keep Wactor stable until help arrived by wrapping a jacket around him to stop the bleeding and performing CPR, but Joy said it was to no avail.
"It was too close range, too extreme of a wound for him to survive, but my God, he fought to stay," she wrote. "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."
In her emotional tribute to her friend, Joy described Wactor's generous and kind personality that so many of his GH co-stars have spoken of this week.
"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 wrote. "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."
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