The family of murdered soap star Johnny Wactor is reportedly upset over comments his ex-fiancée has made following his tragic murder.
According TMZ, The late actor’s mother, Scarlett, said her son and Tessa Farrell dated several years ago, but they have not been in contact 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 advocated for stricter laws in Los Angeles, the city where the actor was shot and killed while confronting criminals who broke into his car.
The outlet reports that Farrell said he wants Los Angeles authorities to consider repealing the city’s current zero-bail policy, which consistently allows low-level, but often dangerous, criminals to return to the streets.
Despite the common-sense change Farrell advocates, Scarlett says she wishes her former almost-daughter-in-law would stop using her son’s name for influence, which is what she believes is happening.
Johnny Wactor (left) pictured with his family, who are now preparing to take his body to South Carolina, where they will mourn him.
Scarlett is currently in the process of arranging to have her son’s body flown to South Carolina, where her family lives, so they can proceed to properly mourn him.
He added that they will hold a memorial in Los Angeles at a later date.
Los Angeles police have yet to make any arrests following the murder, and authorities reportedly say this type of tragic event has become commonplace given the uncontrolled way criminals have been behaving lately.
These criminals, in particular, were attempting to steal Wactor’s catalytic converter, a crime that occurs at an especially high rate in the City of Angels because criminals know that if they are caught, they will simply receive a slap on the wrist.
TMZ reports that Los Angeles cops don’t expect the problem to improve anytime soon without top-down change.
Wactor, actor, was murdered over the weekend by a group of thieves who were trying to steal his car
His ex-fiancée has posted online several times about the untimely death of her former love, which her mother has now weighed in on, hoping to put an end to the online comments.
The actor, 37, had appeared in more than 160 episodes of General Hospital between 2020 and 2022, and had 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 at 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 then a masked suspect shot him as he approached.
Three suspects later left the scene, witnesses said.
The 37-year-old man was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
As of Wednesday, there were no arrests. City police officers said they are investigating, but have not yet informed the public of any substantial leads.
Wactor’s murder comes just weeks after California was ranked among the 10 most dangerous states in the United States.
Violent crime in Los Angeles has been on the rise, with the Los Angeles Police Department recording a 2.9 percent increase as of the end of March 2024, compared to the same period last year.
The LAPD reported Friday that as of late April, the city’s increase in the number of murders in 2024 continued to decline and, as of April 27, was only 4.2 percent above the number of murders reported in this moment in 2023. NBC Los Angeles reported.
The last time police updated burglary statistics, in late March 2024, thefts increased 9.5 percent, according to ABC 7.
About 600,000 catalytic converters are stolen every year. Most cars are equipped with one converter, but those with a dual exhaust system require two. Larger vehicles, such as SUVs and pickup trucks, may have more than two.
According to the New York Times, stolen catalytic converters pass through “middlemen, smelters and refineries in the United States and abroad.” They can be stolen in less than a minute and cost around $1,000 to replace.