Halyna Hutchins death: Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed who loaded gun for Alec Baldwin jailed

Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been sentenced to 18-month in prison for loading a gun on the set of the western film Rust, which unintentionally fired and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the tragic incident that occurred in October 2021 at a ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Alec Baldwin, the film's lead actor and co-producer, was rehearsing a scene when the gun he was holding discharged, fatally injuring Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter earlier this year and awaits a trial in July.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer delivered Gutierrez-Reed's sentence on Monday, saying: “The word remorse, a deep regret coming from a sense of guilt for past wrongs – that is not you.” She said the gravity of the offence, noting that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for weapon safety and her negligence turned a safe weapon into a deadly one. The judge added, “But for you, Ms Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.”

The sentencing followed Gutierrez-Reed’s unsuccessful emergency request for a new trial. Emotional testimonies were presented by Hutchins' family, including her mother Olga Solovey, father Anatolii Androsovych, and sister Svetlana Zemko. Solovey, a nurse in Kyiv, spoke of the devastating call she received about her daughter's death, saying, “The day of her death ruined my entire life…every minute I wait until I’ll meet her again.”

Hutchins' father described the ongoing pain, saying, “The constant state of stress, the turmoil of my soul has drained my physical strength and caused an abrupt decline of my health with continued physical pain in my heart.”

Joel Souza, the film's director, also shared his grief. He said: “I want the pain to go away, I want to be who I was before all this happened and above all, I want Halyna to be back home with her husband and son in the house she never got to live in.”

During the hearing, Gutierrez-Reed, visibly emotional, requested probation, saying: “I beg you, please don’t give me more time.” She also expressed her sorrow over how the media portrayed her and defended her dedication to her job on Rust, saying, “When things got tough, I just did my best to handle it...The jury has found me in part at fault for this god awful tragedy, but that doesn’t make me a monster, that makes me human.”

Baldwin's legal journey has been tumultuous. Initially charged in January 2023, charges against him were dismissed, only to be reinstated earlier this year following new evidence. Baldwin has claimed he pulled the hammer but not the trigger, causing the gun to fire. Both sides have exchanged accusations regarding the validity of the charges, with a judge yet to rule on the motion to dismiss.

Production of Rust resumed last year in Montana, with an agreement involving Hutchins' widower, Matthew Hutchins, who became an executive producer on the film.