Rust Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Given Maximum Sentence of 18 Months in Prison Over Fatal On-Set Shooting

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the movie set armorer who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the accidental 2021 shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday.

The decision was handed down from Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in a Santa Fe, New Mexico courtroom. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who loaded a gun containing live ammunition that went off in actor Alec Baldwin’s hand, killing Hutchins, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March. Her sentence of 18 months is the maximum penalty she faced following the trial. She has been held in custody since then.

“We will be appealing the judgment and sentence on multiple grounds,” Jason Bowles, the attorney for Gutierrez-Reed, told MovieMaker on Monday.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Fatal Rust Shooting

Rust director Joel Souza, who was also injured alongside Hutchins in the 2021 on-set accidental shooting, gave a statement about the impact of Hutchins’ death along with other friends and family of the cinematographer over video at Monday’s sentencing.

“What I want is simply not possible. What I want is, everyone is OK and lives aren’t destroyed,” Souza said, according to CBS News.

“One moment the world made sense, and the next moment, it didn’t. It still doesn’t, and I don’t know if it ever will again,” he told the courtroom through a virtual call. “Those of us who were lucky enough to have shared in her [Hutchins’] fleeting time on this planet are better for it.”

Gutierrez-Reed’s involuntary manslaughter conviction was the first verdict a jury reached in Hutchins death, and may serve as a blueprint for how Baldwin’s own involuntary manslaughter trial could play out in July as well.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has denied being the one responsible for loading the live ammunition into the gun that killed Hutchins. In addition to the involuntary manslaughter charge, Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with tampering with evidence, for which she was found not-guilty.

Also Read: ‘That Was Her Job to Check Those Rounds’: Rust Juror on Guilty Verdict

The shooting occurred on Oct. 21, 2021, when Baldwin, Hutchins, and director Joel Souza were going over a scene for the Western movie in a wooden church on the film’s set outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin, who has denied pulling the trigger, was acting out part of the scene when a live round discharged from a prop gun he was holding that was supposed to contain only dummy rounds. Hutchins was mortally wounded, and Souza was also wounded but recovered.

Baldwin and the film’s other producers have denied any wrongdoing, and Baldwin’s attorneys have said that he believed the gun he was holding held only dummy rounds, which cannot be fired.

Baldwin’s road to his upcoming trial has had its ups and downs. Prosecutors dropped involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin in 2023, but he was recharged in January 2024.

In October 2022, the producers of Rust and star Alec Baldwin reached a settlement with the estate of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed when a gun Baldwin was holding accidentally discharged with live ammunition, Deadline reported.

“We have reached a settlement, subject to court approval, for our wrongful death case against the producers of Rust, including Alec Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, LLC,” announced Halyna Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins. “As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed. The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”

Matthew Hutchins also expressed his intention to finish the film, boarding as an executive producer, noting that he believes his wife’s death was an accident.

“The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work,” he added.

Baldwin finished filming the movie last year, and producers said they hoped its completion would honor Hutchins’ work.

You can watch a video of the sentencing below.

Main Image: Hannah Gutierrez-Reed at her sentencing Monday, CBS News