Rust Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed Sentenced to Maximum Penalty of 18 Months in Prison

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the Rust armorer found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the October 2021 on-set fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, has received her sentencing.

At court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Monday, April 15, 26-year-old Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer to the maximum penalty of 18 months of incarceration at a New Mexico women’s correctional facility.

Gutierrez-Reed, who did not testify in her defense, prepared a statement that she read aloud in court: “First and foremost, my heart aches for the Hutchins family and friends and colleagues as well, and it has since the day this tragedy occurred.”

She called Hutchins “an inspiration to me” and “I understand that she was taken too soon, and I pray that you all find peace.”

Gutierrez-Reed was in charge of the prop guns on the Western project starring and co-produced by Alec Baldwin, who held the weapon that discharged and killed Hutchins, 42, on Oct. 21, 2021, in New Mexico. (Director Joel Souza was also struck in the incident but survived his injuries and later returned to complete filming Rust with Baldwin.)

Getting emotional, Gutierrez-Reed, who admitted she was “young and naive” when she took the Rust job, said in her Monday statement that she is “saddened by the way media sensationalized our traumatic tragedy and portrayed me as a complete monster, which has actually been the total opposite of what’s been in my heart.”

Jury members, on March 6, found Gutierrez-Reed liable, in part, for the death of Hutchins. She was, however, cleared on a separate charge of tampering with evidence, and her attorneys had indicated that she planned to appeal her verdict.

Separately from Gutierrez-Reed’s outcome, Baldwin, 66, is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 18 months in prison, and his trial is set for July.

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The attorneys Gloria Allred and John Carpenter, who represent Hutchins’s parents and sister, said shortly after Gutierrez-Reed’s guilty verdict that the family was “satisfied” with the result.

They added at the time, “We look forward to the justice system continuing to make sure that everyone else who is responsible for Halyna’s death is required to face the legal consequences for their actions.”