“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed sobbed Monday as she was sentenced to 18 months in prison over the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins, whose mother told the court “time does not heal.”
Gutierrez-Reed, 26, was led into court shackled at the wrist and wearing khaki jail scrubs with a white long sleeve T-shirt.
Several close friends and family members of Hutchins then gave emotional statements about the impact her death — which happened on set in 2021 after Alec Baldwin fired a gun which had accidentally been loaded with a live bullet – had on them.
Gutierrez-Reed’s sentence for involuntary manslaughter, the maximum possible, was then handed down by New Mexico District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who made a point of sending her to prison, rather than a lesser sentence in jail
She told her: “I did not hear you take accountability … You said you were sorry, but not you were sorry for what you did.
“It was your attorney that had to tell the court you were remorseful. The word remorse, a deep regret coming from a sense of guilt for past wrongs, that’s not you.”
“I find that what you did constitutes a serious violent offense. It was committed in a physically violent manner … I am sentencing you to 18 months of incarceration at a women’s correctional facility in New Mexico.”
Earlier, Guiterrez-Reed looked on — crying on and off — as Hutchins was described as a wonderful friend and mother.
Hutchins’ own mother Olga Solovey cried throughout a video recording — spoken in Ukrainian and translated through subtitles — saying: “The day of her death ruined my entire life. It’s heart-wrenching to see her child grow without his mother.
“On the night [husband] Matt [called to say she died] I was screaming and kept pleading with him. Time does not heal. It is two and a half years past and it gets worse and worse.”
Emilia Mendieta, one of Hutchins’ best friends, told the court: “The last four words she ever said to me [were] ‘I believe in you.’ Those four words will forever echo in my soul.”
“Halyna’s death is the result of a massive system failure…it all boils down to a very simple question. Why was there a live bullet on set? … That is where Hannah Gutierrez-Reed failed Halyna. It was her job to check the gun, check the bullets, to ensure that Halyna was safe.”
Close family friend Steven Metz said the incident has also completely destroyed husband Matthew Hutchins.
He said: “Matt has been affected horribly by this and he moved away. Basically Matt died when Halyna died… Her death is a reminder of the fragility of life and left us shaken and sad. There is really no excuse.”
Before Marlowe Sommer handed down the penalty, Gutierrez-Reed begged for leniency and said her heart “aches” over the tragedy.
“I understand she was taken too soon,” Gutierrez-Reed said, her voice-breaking with emotion throughout the statement.
However, she then went on to say the media had painted her like a “monster” and said she was “young and naive” when she started working on the Western movie.
Gutierrez-Reed – who has been behind bars since her March 6 conviction – also said she didn’t have the time or resources to be able to fully carry out her job.
“I beg you, please don’t give me more time,” she pleaded with the judge. “The jury has found me, in part, at fault for this god awful tragedy — that doesn’t make me a monster; that makes me a human.”
At trial jurors heard evidence about how Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of the weapons on the set of the movie, flouted gun safety protocols which allowed a live round to end up in the gun Baldwin was using for the film.
Baldwin, 66, — who is also awaiting trial on manslaughter charges — mistakenly fired off the bullet while rehearsing, killing cinematographer Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
Her lawyer, Jason Bowles, asked Marlowe Sommer last week for leniency.
However, prosecutors asked the judge to throw the book at Gutierrez-Reed, whom they claim still refuses to take responsibility — evidenced in jail calls in which she, among other things, insulted jurors as “idiots” and “a–holes.”
At Monday’s hearing prosecutor Kari Morrissey said: “I wasn’t sure exactly what recommendation would be appropriate in this unprecedented case until last week when I completed the review of Ms. Gutierrez’s jail calls.
“It was my sincere hope during this process that there would be some moment when Ms. Gutierrez took responsibility and expressed some level of remorse that was genuine. That moment has never come. Ms. Gutierrez continues to refuse to take responsibility for her role in the death of Halyna Hutchins.”
Bowles said his no prison request was warranted because Gutierrez-Reed has never committed a crime before, many people vouched for her good character in letters to the judge, and her life has been permanently altered after being catapulted into the eye of the media for over two years.
“Ms. Gutierrez Reed has endured and will continue to endure collateral consequences far harsher than most defendants ever must face,” Bowles wrote.
The lawyer detailed how his client had received death threats which caused her fear and anxiety and pushed her into therapy. And he said even though she opted for trial, “it did not mean that she didn’t and doesn’t still feel incredibly saddened and heartbroken by what happened on that tragic day.”
However, prosecutors had listed a slew of alleged misconduct by Gutierrez-Reed from after her arrest. They claimed she drank alcohol while out pending trial “contrary to her conditions of release,” encouraged her mom to confront prosecutors while in the bathroom at court; and attempted to lie to prosecutors about her work history to give the impression she was working full-time prior to trial.
Bowles argued at trial Gutierrez-Reed was a “scapegoat” for the production company, which overworked her.
But prosecutors called Gutierrez-Reed — who was 24 at the time — “sloppy” and “unprofessional” and said she “treated the safety protocols as if they were optional.”
Bowles has previously said he plans to appeal the conviction and sentence.
Prosecutors also claim Baldwin — who is a producer on the completed but as-yet unreleased movie as well as its star — shares responsibility for Hutchins’ tragic death, arguing he had “no control” of his emotions in the weeks leading up to the tragedy and claiming he pressured crew to work faster and “routinely compromised safety.”
Baldwin, slated to go on trial on July 10, is seeking to get the charges against him tossed and has maintained his innocence.
Last year, assistant director David Halls took a guilty plea for negligently handling of a gun and received a no-jail time sentence of probation.
