‘Rust’ Armorer Sentenced To 18 Months Behind Bars For Halyna Hutchins’ Death; “You Alone Turned A Safe Weapon Into A Lethal Weapon,” Judge Says

deadline.com:

Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced just now to 18 months behind bars over the October 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Santa Fe set of the Alec Baldwin starring indie Western. “You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” said Judge Mary Marlow Sommer in her sentencing Monday after rejecting defense pleas for probation and counseling. “But for you, Ms.

Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.” The sentence in a state prison was the maximum that Gutierrez-Reed could receive under New Mexico law.

Exclaiming that her “heart aches” for what happened on Rust and the death of Hutchins, Gutierrez-Reed earlier called herself “young and naive,” chastised the media for portraying her as a “complete monster” and told the court how she had been overworks and under resourced on the film. “I beg you please don’t give me more time,” Gutierrez-Reed pleaded in a brief statement she read out before being sentenced.

Both Gutierrez-Reed and her lawyer asked for probation. “The jury has found me in part at fault for this God-awful tragedy but that doesn’t make a monster,” a tearful Gutierrez-Reed said. “That makes me human.” Judge Sommer didn’t buy it, quoting calls Gutierrez-Reed made from jail in recent weeks that put the blame for the live round getting in the gun on everyone but herself. “I did not hear you take accountability,” the judge said in her sentencing. “Your attorney had to tell the court you were remorseful,” the judge called out.