Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer on the set of the movie Rust, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. In October of 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was injured on the set of the film, when a live round was discharged from a revolver being used as a prop by actor Alec Baldwin. Gutierrez-Reed had been on trial, facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, to which she pled not guilty. However, in March, the jury found her guilty of the charges but did find her not guilty of tampering with evidence. Baldwin will be on trial for the same charges in July and has also pleaded his innocence.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer gave Gutierrez-Reed the maximum possible sentence and stated that she had shown no remorse for her actions. “You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” the judge said. “But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner, and a little boy would have his mother.”
Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, and sister, Svetlana Zemko, also gave pre-recorded statements to the court in videos filmed in Ukraine, where they live. “The day of her death ruined my entire life,” Solovey said, speaking in Ukrainian. “It’s heart-wrenching to see her child grow without his mother.”
Gutierrez-Reed plans to appeal the sentence. In January, SAG-AFTRA issued a statement defending Baldwin’s role in Hutchins’ death. “An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert,” the union said. “Performers train to perform, and they are not required or expected to be experts on guns or experienced in their use. The industry assigns that responsibility to qualified professionals who oversee their use and handling in every aspect.”
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