Rust armourer sentenced to 18 months for Halyna Hutchins’ death

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer who loaded a gun for Alec Baldwin before it fired and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

The armourer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March. She was found not guilty of a second charge – tampering with evidence – over the shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. The sentence Gutierrez-Reed received is the maximum possible.

Alec Baldwin also faces a manslaughter trial in July. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who handed down the sentence on Monday in a New Mexico court, said Gutierrez-Reed’s actions constitute a serious, violent offence, committed in a physically violent manner. “You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” Judge Sommer said, addressing the armourer. “But for you, Ms Hutchins would be alive. A husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.”

Prosecutors said Gutierrez-Reed had failed to ensure the weapon was only loaded with dummy rounds – fake bullets used to look and sound like real ones.

“This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being,” prosecutor Kari T Morrissey said during closing arguments in the trial.

Gutierrez-Reed was “negligent”, “careless” and “thoughtless” when she failed to notice that live bullets had mixed with dummy rounds in a box of ammunition on set, Ms Morrissey told the jurors. One of those bullets was in the firearm that was used by Mr Baldwin, prosecutors said.

Jurors deliberated for three hours before returning their verdict in March. Ms Hutchins’ parents and her sister said they were “satisfied” with the verdict.

Their statement added: “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.”