Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the “Rust” armorer, was sentenced Monday to 18 months in a New Mexico prison, the maximum punishment permitted for involuntary manslaughter.
A jury convicted the young and inexperienced armorer in charge of guns and ammunition on the set of “Rust” when Alec Baldwin unintentionally shot and killed cameraman Halyna Hutchins in 2021. She was cleared of evidence-tampering charges, which might have lengthened her sentence even further.
Gutierrez-Reed, now 26, was brought to jail immediately following her March 6 conviction, which came after only two hours of jury deliberations. The daughter of famed Hollywood armorer and trick-shooter Thell Reed was charged with poor work and other industry-standard errors that contributed to Hutchins’ death.
Over the course of nine days, attorneys questioned several witnesses, including assistant director David Halls, numerous firearms experts, and crew members from the low-budget western. During her closing address, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey showed still photographs of blatant safety violations on the set, such as stuntmen pointing muzzles at actors, live rounds mixed in with ammo boxes, and bandoliers designed specifically for “dummy” rounds.
On Monday, prosecutors cited Gutierrez-Reed’s apparent lack of remorse when requesting the maximum penalty. Gutierrez-Reed, who did not testify at her trial, had requested probation and spoke on her own behalf before the sentence was pronounced.
“My heart aches for the Hutchins’ family and friends, and colleagues, since this tragedy,” she went on to say.
The pursuit of justice in New Mexico for the cinematographer’s unintentional gunshot stalled for two and a half years, hampered by delays, including a former prosecutor who attempted to charge the defendants with a firearms enhancement that was not yet law when Baldwin shot Hutchins on October 21, 2021.
Throughout the trial, the defense focused heavily on its theory that someone other than Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for the live rounds prowling around the “Rust” set, whether via negligence or some insanely reckless game of career sabotage.
Baldwin is also scheduled to stand trial later this summer on separate manslaughter allegations. Though he was not summoned to testify, the jury observed Baldwin shooting weapons in on-set video and b-roll footage, including scenes in which the producer and actor bark commands at his team to reload and wields a gun as a “pointing stick” to move actors and crew around.