‘Rust’ armourer Hannah Gutierrez sentenced to 18 months over deadly on-set shooting

The armourer who loaded the gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie Rust has been sentenced.

The armourer who loaded the gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie Rust was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a US court.

Hannah Gutierrez stood impassive as a judge in the state of New Mexico told her she would serve the maximum sentence after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the October 2021 death of Halyna Hutchins during filming of the budget Western.

“You were the armourer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said on Monday local time.

“But for you, Miss Hutchins would be alive. A husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.”

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed (L), the former armourer at the movie Rust, attends her sentencing hearing at the First Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Picture: AFP

Gutierrez’s 10-day trial had heard how despite being the person responsible for on-set firearms, the 26-year-old had repeatedly failed to follow basic safety rules, leaving guns unattended and allowing actors - including Alec Baldwin - to wave weapons around.

It also heard how she was responsible for the presence of six live rounds, and how she had loaded one of them into the Colt .45 that Baldwin was using.

The weapon discharged as the actor was preparing a scene inside a wooden church, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust.” pic.twitter.com/eiysocvmub

— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) April 15, 2024

“Halyna Hutchins died due to a cascade of safety violations that began with Miss Gutierrez introducing live rounds to the movie set, loading one into a prop gun telling the members of the crew that it was a cold gun,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the sentencing hearing in Santa Fe.

“That conduct absent responsibility or remorse is deserving of a sentence of 18 months.”

Morrissey told the judge that Gutierrez had made around 200 calls from jail since her conviction, in which she complained that she was being unfairly victimised.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, centre, with her lawyer Jason Bowles and paralegal Carmella Sisneros appear during her sentencing. Picture: Getty Images

“Rather than accept responsibility, she has chosen to place blame on the witnesses who testified against her, me, you, the jurors, the set Medic and the paramedics who tried to save Miss Hutchins life,” Morrissey said.

“Her jail calls … tell us who Miss Gutierrez really is.”

Gutierrez sobbed as she begged the court for probation, rather than jail time, but insisted that she was not wholly to blame.

“Your Honor, when I took on ‘Rust,’ I was young and I was naive. But I took my job as seriously as I knew how to, despite not having proper time, resources and staffing.

“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,” she said.

Baldwin, who was also a producer on the movie, faces his own involuntary manslaughter trial in July. He denies the charge.

If convicted, he too faces a possible 18 months in prison.

Actor Alec Baldwin faces up to 18 months in jail for his part in the death of Halyna Hutchins. Picture: AFP

It comes as Baldwin had a “complete lack of concern for the safety of those around him” on the set of Rust.

That is what prosecutors will allege when the star’s involuntary manslaughter case goes to trial.

The 66-year-old actor has denied any wrongdoing in the 2021 deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the American Western in Santa Fe.

Hutchins, 42, died after a gun held by Baldwin fired live rounds at her and wounded director Joel Souza.

Baldwin is set to go on trial on July 9 in Santa Fe and faces up to 18 months in jail if found guilty.

In a 32-page public filing, prosecutor Kari Morrissey alleged that the actor would shout and swear on the set, and his uncontrolled behaviour had affected safety.

“To watch Mr Baldwin’s conduct on the set of Rust is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct affects those around him,” Morrissey wrote.

“Witnesses have testified that it was this exact conduct that contributed to safety compromises on set.”

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was aged just 42 when she was shot on the set of Rust. Picture: Instagram

Morrissey claimed Baldwin’s defence team engaged in “countless lies and manipulation” and had subjected her and co-counsel Jason Lewis to personal attacks.

She also said that Baldwin’s claim he had pulled the hammer but not the trigger on the Colt .45 was “absurd”.

The prosecutor noted Baldwin did not make the claim when he was first interviewed by police but instead a month later during an interview on ABC News.

During that interview, the actor also said Hutchins had instructed him to point the gun at her.

“Every time Mr Baldwin spoke, a different version of events emerged from his mouth, and his later statements contradicted his previous statements,” Morrissey said.

Morrisey said the defence planned to call Hollywood A-listers, including Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, to testify for Baldwin.

The filing also revealed prosecutors had offered Baldwin a misdemeanour plea deal last year but it was pulled after they learned Baldwin was planning a documentary about Hutchins – and was “actively pressuring material witnesses in the case” to be interviewed for it.

In March, armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a two-week trial.

Prosecutors alleged that she inadvertently brought live bullets onto the set — a major breach of film safety protocols — and failed to properly check the rounds before loading one of them into Baldwin’s gun.

Gutierrez-Reed, 27, faces up to 18 months in prison.

Originally published as ‘Rust’ armourer Hannah Gutierrez sentenced to 18 months over deadly on-set shooting