'Rust' Armorer Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison In Fatal Movie Set Shooting Case

SANTA FE, NM — The armorer for "Rust" who loaded the live round that killed the film's cinematographer on set in 2021 was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison, according to multiple reports.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March by a jury on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins. The sentence was the maximum Gutierrez-Reed could receive, according to The New York Times. She has been held for more than a month at a county jail on the outskirts of Santa Fe.

Alec Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for "Rust," was pointing a gun at Hutchins when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Hutchins and is scheduled for trial in July at a courthouse in Santa Fe.

Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of "Rust" where it was expressly prohibited and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.

Gutierrez-Reed teared up Monday as Hutchins' agent, Craig Mizrahi, spoke about the cinematographer's creativity and described her as a rising star in Hollywood.

Friends and family, including Souza, told the court they were seeking justice for what had happened to the cinematographer. They said she was "a bright beam of light," describing her as courageous, tenacious and compassionate.

Los Angeles-based attorney Gloria Allred read a statement by Hutchins' mother, Olga Solovey, who said her life had been split in two and that time didn't heal, rather it only prolonged her pain and suffering. A video of a tearful Solovey, who lives in Ukraine, also was played for the court.

"It's the hardest thing to lose a child. There's no words to describe," Solovey said in her native language.

Defense attorneys for Gutierrez-Reed requested leniency in sentencing — including a possible conditional discharge that would avoid further jail time and leave an adjudication of guilt off her record if certain conditions are met.

“Your honor, when I took on ‘Rust,’ I was young and I was naïve, but I took my job as seriously as I knew how to,” Gutierrez-Reed read from a statement in court, according to the Times.“Despite not having proper time, resources and staffing when things got tough I just did my best to handle it.”

Her attorneys, who have said they plan to appeal, had argued she was scapegoated after not being given enough time to focus on weapons, the Times reported.

Gutierrez-Reed was acquitted at trial of allegations she tampered with evidence in the "Rust" investigation. She also has pleaded not guilty to a separate felony charge that she allegedly carried a gun into a bar in Santa Fe where firearms are prohibited.

Defense attorneys have highlighted Gutierrez-Reed's relatively young age "and the devastating effect a felony will have on her life going forward."

They say the 26-year-old will forever be affected negatively by intense publicity associated with her prosecution in parallel with an A-list actor, and has suffered from anxiety, fear and depression as a result.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey urged the judge to impose the maximum prison sentence and designate Gutierrez-Reed as a "serious violent offender" to limit her eligibility for a sentence reduction later, describing the defendant's behavior on the set of "Rust" as exceptionally reckless.

Morrissey told the judge Monday that she reviewed nearly 200 phone calls that Gutierrez-Reed had made from jail over the last month. She said she was hoping there would be a moment when the defendant would take responsibility for what happened or express genuine remorse.

"That moment has never come," Morrissey said. "Ms. Gutierrez continues to refuse to accept responsibility for her role in the death of Halyna Hutchins."

In the calls, Gutierrez-Reed called her jurors "idiots" and said her judge was on a "power trip" and "getting paid off," although she provided no evidence that was the case, according to the Times.

She also in the calls said she "didn't need to be shaking the dummies all the time," a safety precaution taken to confirm a round cannot fire, the Times reported.

“You were the armorer," Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said, according to The Washington Post. "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."

"Rust" assistant director and safety coordinator Dave Halls last year pleaded no contest to negligent handling of a firearm and completed a sentence of six months unsupervised probation. "Rust" props master Sarah Zachry, who shared some responsibilities over firearms on the set of "Rust," signed an agreement with prosecutors to avoid prosecution in return with her cooperation.

Written testimonials in favor of leniency included letters from Gutierrez-Reed's childhood friend and romantic partner Sean Kridelbaugh, who said Gutierrez-Reed cries constantly out of remorse in the shooting and that further incarceration would interfere with efforts to care for a relative with cancer. Other friends and former colleagues urged the judge to emphasize rehabilitation over punishment in the sentencing.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Correction: An earlier version of this report misstated the prison sentence. Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison.