Johnny Wactor’s coworker -- who was with him the night he was murdered -- is overcome with emotion about his alleged killers getting arrested, but says the actor's family won’t find peace until the suspects receive the maximum punishment.
Anita Joy told TMZ she felt a mix of joy and relief knowing 3 people have been arrested and booked on murder charges -- but adds, the real justice will be seeing these guys get serious convictions.
Johnny's friend says she’s feeling optimistic about that happening, because all the suspects have been held on high bail amounts. She was initially worried the suspects would not be tried as adults -- based on what she saw the night of the murder, she thought they were possibly underage.
However, all 3 are 18-year-olds, so they'll be tried as adults.
We broke the story ... LAPD arrested 3 members of the Florencia 13 gang Thursday on murder charges, plus another gang member on an accessory charge -- this after Johnny was fatally shot in the chest when he approached a group trying to steal his car's catalytic converter outside Level 8 restaurant in DTLA.
Anita feels the tragedy could’ve been avoided if Level 8 had provided safer parking for employees -- something Anita said she and others constantly flagged as an issue, but she claims nothing was ever done about it.
She says neither she nor Johnny's family have heard from the restaurant since the murder -- she says she's only gotten support from coworkers.
Anita's also grateful the progress in the case came before Johnny's August 31 birthday, which she says is a relief for his family.