Rust Armorer Hit With Maximum Sentence

(USNewsBreak.com) – Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died while on the set of “Rust” more than two years ago. In the time since, prosecutors have brought charges against both actor Alec Baldwin, who fired the gun that killed her, and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the weapon. A jury tried and found Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Now, a judge has passed a sentence.

At the sentencing on Monday, April 15, the armorer pleaded with the judge to give her probation, a request her attorneys had submitted in writing a week prior. Gutierrez-Reed acknowledged she was “young” and “naive” while working on set and did the best she could without having “proper time, resources and staffing.” However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced her to 18 months in prison, the maximum allowable, saying, “You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” noting that Hutchins would be alive had the armorer properly done her job.

BREAKING: "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez was given the maximum sentence of 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer
Halyna Hutchins.https://t.co/bliOPUEiyp

— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 15, 2024

The sentencing was emotional, with many of Hutchins’ friends giving impact statements. Even Joel Souza, the director injured in the same shooting, spoke about his friend who “had a talent for life.” Some questioned why there was “a live bullet on set” and noted reports of repeated safety failures on the set, all of which led to Hutchins’ death. The cinematographer’s friends and father called for the system to issue justice. The New York Times reported that Gutierrez-Reed was trying to get the cinematographer’s family to speak on her behalf for leniency.

Prosecutors also used Gutierrez-Reed’s phone calls after her conviction against her in the sentencing hearing, saying she expressed no remorse for her actions. In them, she called the jurors “idiots” and alleged that the judge was on a “power trip” and “getting paid off.”

Following the sentencing, the court remanded Gutierrez-Reed to custody. Her attorneys plan to appeal the conviction, saying the system used her as a scapegoat.