Hannah Gutirrez-Reed, the woman in charge of handling the weapons during the filming of the western Rusthas been sentenced to 18 months in prison for the death of the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, In a case in which the actor and protagonist of the film is also accused, Alec Baldwin. It was the 66-year-old interpreter who fired the revolver that ended the life of Hutchins in October 2021 and injured the film’s director, Joel Souza.
Gutirrez-Reed was sentenced to the maximum sentence by the judge Mary Marlowe and begin serving the sentence from today in a women’s prison of New Mexico. The person responsible for the weapons, 26 years old, did not testify on her behalf during the trial but had a prepared statement that she read aloud during the process.
“First and foremost, my heart aches for Hutchins’ family, friends and colleagues, and it has since the day this tragedy occurred,” said the former model and daughter of one of the legends of the world of entertainment. weapons on filming in Hollywood, Thell Reed, with a good number of westerns behind him.
Baldwin was rehearsing a scene inside an old ranch church. Bonanza Creek, outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He had the Colt-style pistol in his hand, pointing at the cinematographer of Rust, a low-budget western, when the gun went off. Hutchins was hit in the chest by the bullet and fell back to the ground. The same projectile later wounded Souza, located right behind the director of photography.
Despite his limited experience, Gutirrez-Reed was in charge of the three guns that he put on a cart for the tragic scene, one modified so that it did not work, another made of plastic, and the one that Baldwin fired. The one that killed Hutchins and wounded Souza, a F. LLI Pietta Colt style long barrel, could have been used days before by members of the crew to shoot real bullets at beer cans for fun, which caused it to be loaded with the wrong projectiles on the day of filming.
After dropping the charges in April 2023, the team of prosecutors decided to refile them at the beginning of the year following a forensic report that determined that Baldwin must have fired the gun that caused Hutchins’ death, despite his denial. every time he had done it. The jury must determine whether the New York actor acted with “deliberate indifference” to the safety of others when he handled the weapon that day.
The trial is scheduled to take place in July. Baldwin is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.