The family of murdered soap star Johnny Wactor is reportedly upset about the comments his ex-fiancée has issued following his tragic murder.
According to TMZ, the late actor’s mother, Scarlett, said that her son and Tessa Farrell dated several years ago, but have not been in touch since their split, nor has Farrell kept up with his family members.
In a tearful video posted online after Johnny’s death over the weekend, Farrell pleaded for stricter laws in Los Angeles – the city where the actor was shot and killed as he confronted criminals breaking into his car.
The outlet reports that Farrell said she wants LA authorities to consider revoking the city’s current zero-bail policy, which consistently allows low-level – but often dangerous – criminals back onto the streets.
Despite the common sense change Farrell is arguing for, Scarlett says she wishes her ex-almost daughter-in-law would stop using her son’s name for clout, which is what she believes is happening.
Johnny Wactor (left) pictured with his family, who are now preparing to bring his body to South Carolina, where they will mourn him
Scarlett is currently in the process of arranging for her son’s body to be flown to South Carolina, where his family lives, so that they might proceed with properly mourning him.
She added that they will hold a memorial in Los Angeles at a later date.
LA cops have yet to make an arrest following the murder, and authorities are reportedly saying this sort of tragic happening has become sort of standard issue given the out-of-control way criminals have been behaving of late.
These criminals, in particular, were attempting to steal Wactor’s catalytic converter, a crime that occurs at an especially high rates in the City of Angels because criminals know, if caught, they’ll having received merely a slap on the wrist.
TMZ reports that LA coppers don’t expect the issue to get any better any time soon without top-down change.
Wactor, an actor, was killed over the weekend by a group of thieves attempting to rob his car
His ex-fiancée has posted online several times about her former flame’s untimely death, which is mother has now weighed in on, hoping to bring the online commentary to an end
The actor, 37, had appeared on more than 160 episodes of General Hospital between 2020 and 2022, he’d had guest and recurring roles on several other hit shows
Wactor died over the weekend after leaving work at a rooftop bar with a co-worker around 3am when he interrupted three men stealing the catalytic converter from his car, his family previously told DailyMail.com.
They said he initially thought his car was being towed, but was then shot by a masked suspect as he approached.
Three suspects subsequently drove away from the scene, witnesses said.
The 37-year-old was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
As of Wednesday, there were no arrests. Cops in the city said they are investigating, but have yet to inform the public of any substantial leads.
Wactor’s murder comes just weeks after California was ranked among the top 10 most dangerous states in America.
Violent crime in Los Angeles has been on the rise, with the LAPD recording a 2.9 per cent increase at the end of March 2024, compared to the same time last year.
The LAPD reported Friday that, as of the end of April, the city’s rise in the number of murders in 2024 continued to decline and, as of April 27, was only 4.2 per cent above the number of murders reported at this time in 2023, NBC Los Angeles reported.
The last time the force updated robbery statistics, at the end of March 2024, thefts were up 9.5 per cent, according to ABC 7.
Around 600,000 catalytic converters are stolen each year. Most cars are equipped with one converter but those with a dual exhaust system require two. Larger vehicles such as SUVs and trucks may have more than two.
According to the New York Times, stolen catalytic converters are passed through ‘middlemen, smelters and refineries in the United States and overseas.’ They can be stolen in under a minute and cost around $1,000 to replace.