Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer found guilty in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust,” has been released from a New Mexico jail. She served out her full sentence of 18 months. On Friday, the state parole board agreed that she should be paroled. Now she is back home, in Bullhead City, Arizona.
Gutierrez-Reed’s conviction followed the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while working on the set of “Rust.” She tragically lost her life when actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun loaded with a live round during a rehearsal. In March 2024, a jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Instead, they exonerated her of any wrongdoing with respect to evidence tampering. The shooting critically injured director Joel Souza.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution focused their case on how a live round ended up on the film set. Further, they pointed out that Baldwin’s prop gun had been labeled a completely operational .45 revolver. Gutierrez-Reed maintained that she took her role seriously, stating, “Your honor, when I took on Rust, I was young and naive. I took my job as seriously as I knew how to.”
Gutierrez-Reed is on probation for a conviction involving the unlawful possession of a firearm at a Santa Fe strip joint. This incident, happening just weeks before production began, added to her prison term.
Baldwin’s case faced a lot of legal obstacles. The court dropped the charges upon learning that prosecutors had withheld significant evidence. Since the incident, Baldwin has been diagnosed with PTSD, his wife Hilaria Baldwin told the New York Post.
As Gutierrez-Reed movesthrough her release and probation, she told the judge that she sincerely regretted the tragedy that unfolded on set. “I beg you, please, don’t give me more time. The jury has found me in part at fault for this horrible tragedy, but that doesn’t make me a monster. That makes me human,” she stated during her sentencing.
Production on the film Rust recently completed shooting in Montana and opened in theaters this month. This release is a homecoming of sorts for the production crew, who had to recover from the traumatic events that transpired while filming.