Johnny Wactor's colleague is dealing with an "incredible amount of anger" after he was shot dead in front of her.
The 'General Hospital' actor was killed over the weekend at the age of 37 during a "robbery gone wrong" after he confronted three men apparently tampering with his car, and Anita Joy - who he had been bartending with at Level 8 nightclub in Los Angeles - is struggling with her emotions in the wake of the tragedy.
Anita told 'Entertainment Tonight' of her anger: "That's something that I have been battling as far as my rollercoaster of what I'm feeling... because there's no need for him to be shot. He could have been shoved or kicked or pushed away for them to get out of there, but these men went out there with a loaded gun at their disposal, right by their side ready to go.
"They had the full intention of going and getting this $350 car part, whatever it is, stealing that from someone, and then being able to shoot them if they think necessary... There's a really, really dark place for people like that."
Anita told how she and Johnny had left the club with a group of co-workers because "nobody walks out alone" but had split off at a street corner as they were parked in a different area, and it was then the terrifying incident happened.
She recalled: "As we're walking up, everything is dark. There's not really a lot of lighting there. There are big trees and stuff covering everything.
"We're just shooting the s***, talking and having fun. As we walk up to the back of my car, I'm like, 'OK this is me.' He's like, 'Oh, I'm right in front of you.' We parked at different times, so it was very random that he was directly in front of me."
Seeing three men, the pair realised something was wrong and Johnny put his hand in front of Anita so she would stay back.
She said: "He's a protector. He genuinely just cared about me. He would've done that with anyone, [even] if he didn't know them."
After questioning the men, one pulled out a gun and as he was shot, Johnny then fell backwards onto his friend, but she had no idea what had happened.
She said: "He turns me around and we both go toppling towards the ground. As I turn and grab him, I was like, 'Honey, are you OK?' 'Cause I didn't hear a fight. I don't think there were any words exchanged from their side. He went, 'Nope, shot,.'
"There's no time to think during this, but I wasn't feeling like, 'Oh my God, my friend is dying.' This was like, 'OK, he got shot, what's next?' I was thinking [he was shot in] maybe a leg or arm.
"I am holding him and screaming my head off for help, because there's no one else around, the streets are bare.
"Then a security from my work was crossing the street at the same time to come to his car and he came running over immediately calling 911. I had a long denim jacket, so we took that off and we wrapped it around him and tied it around the wound to try to stop the bleeding and then [the security guard] tried CPR on him.
"He was just kind of flickering in and out of consciousness, but he kept making big gasps," she said. "... I was screaming at him, like, 'Johnny, stay with me! Johnny, stay with me!'... He was just kind of gurgling... I was screaming at him to stay with me and that I love him and just begging him [to stay with me]. Those were my final words to him."
