Two 18-year-olds have been charged in the May shooting death of former “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor.
Robert Barceleau and Sergio Estrada were arrested along with two co-defendants last Thursday and charged Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, District Attorney George Gasón said at a news conference.
Leonel Gutierrez was charged with grand theft and attempted robbery, and a fourth suspect, Frank Olano, was charged with being an accessory after the fact. The men were connected to the Florencia 13 gang, police said.
Wactor, 37, was leaving his late-night bartending shift in Los Angeles with a co-worker on May 25 and saw three people stealing his catalytic converter. He asked them what they were doing, holding up his hands palm outward to signify he meant no harm, according to police and family accounts.
But they turned around and shot him in the chest. Wactor collapsed backward into the arms of coworker Anita Joy, whom he was shielding.
Earlier this month police released murky photos of the suspects that showed them fleeing in a black four-door Infiniti Q50 and described the triggerman as having facial tattoos above his left eye and right cheek. Last week they said arrests were imminent.
Special circumstances are folded into Barceleau’s charges, including murder during an attempted robbery and personal use of a firearm, which could send him to prison for life without parole. Estrada could face life in prison. Barceleau was held without bail, and Estrada’s bail was $1 million.
Wactor was known and beloved for playing Brando Corbin on “General Hospital.” His family and friends lamented the loss of a “wonderful person.”
“The loss of this talented young actor, who was in the prime of his life and had so much to offer the world, is deeply felt by all of us,” Gascón said.
The killing sparked calls for justice and a crackdown on crime in Los Angeles.
With News Wire Services
