‘Rust’ Armorer Sobs as She’s Sentenced to 18 Months for Fatal On-Set Shooting

Rust Movie Sentencing of Hannah Gutierrez Reed (Credit: YouTube/ Law & Crime Network)

A New Mexico judge sentenced Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed to 18 months in state prison on Monday, for her role in the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was in charge of supervising weapons on the film’s set in 2021, when actor Alec Baldwin fired a revolver that had a live round in it, instead of a dummy round.

Related StoryAlec Baldwin Faces New Charge in Fatal ‘Rust’ Movie Set Shooting

Just before she was sentenced, Gutierrez-Reed made a tearful statement to the court.

“First and foremost, my heart aches for Hutchins’ family and friends and colleagues as well, and it has since the day this tragedy occurred,” she said at Monday’s hearing, which the Law & Crime network streamed live. “Halyna has been and always will be an inspiration to me. I understand she was taken too soon and I pray that you all find peace.”

Gutierrez-Reed then lashed out at the media for portraying her as a “complete monster,” and told the court she was “young” and “naïve” when she got the job on the film.

Her legal team asked the judge to give the rookie armorer probation. But Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer was unmoved and handed down the maximum sentence.

“I did not hear you take accountability in your allocution. You said you were sorry, but not you were sorry for what you did,” Sommer said. “It was your attorney that had to tell the court that you were remorseful.”

Actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with a Colt .45 prop gun on the set of the Western on Oct. 21, 2021, when he fired the revolver and a bullet struck Hutchins and director Joel Souza, who suffered a non-life-threatening injury.

Hutchins, 42, died and left behind a husband and young son.

The cinematographer grew up in Ukraine.

During Monday’s hearing, Attorney Gloria Allred played video statements recorded in Ukraine from Hutchins’ grief-stricken family and friends.

Her mother, Olga Solovey, said Hutchins was a wonderful daughter.

“It’s extremely difficult, extremely difficult for me without her,” Solovey said while wiping away tears.

Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on March 6.

During court testimony in the two-week trial, prosecutors accused her of “never-ending” mistakes. They said she was responsible for bringing six live rounds onto the set and failed to follow routine safety protocols that are standard for film and TV productions.

“This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake, and that one mistake was accidental — putting a live round into that gun,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey told jurors during her closing argument. “This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another.”

The film’s assistant director David Halls pleaded no contest to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon in exchange for a suspended sentence and six months probation in the case.

Baldwin, 66, was a producer on the film. He has maintained that he was told the gun was “cold,” meaning it had no live rounds inside.

The actor is charged with involuntary manslaughter, and is scheduled to stand trial in July.


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About Anita Bennett

Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.