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"Rust" Armorer Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, center, with her attorney Jason Bowles, left, and paralegal Carmella Sisneros prepare for a sentencing hearing in state district court in Santa Fe, N.M., on Monday April 15, 2024. Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the Western film "Rust," was sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin in 2021. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)
Eddie Moore/AP
/
Pool The Albuquerque Journal
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, center, with her attorney Jason Bowles, left, and paralegal Carmella Sisneros prepare for a sentencing hearing in state district court in Santa Fe, N.M., on Monday April 15, 2024. Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the Western film "Rust," was sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin in 2021. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

By Morgan Lee
Adapted for radio by S. Baxter Clinton

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A movie weapons supervisor was sentenced to 18 months in prison in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust,” during a hearing Monday, April 15th, in which tearful family members and friends gave testimonials that included calls for justice and a punishment that would instill greater accountability for safety on film sets.

Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March by a jury on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and has been held for more than a month at a county jail on the outskirts of 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 was unsuccessful in her plea for a lesser sentencing, telling the judge she was not the monster that people have made her out to be and that she had tried to do her best on the set despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing.”

The armorer’s two-week trial and conviction was a prelude to the proceedings against Alec Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins.

He is scheduled for trial in July at a courthouse in Santa Fe.