“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie in 2021.
The 26-year-old, who was in charge of weapons on the set, was also found not guilty of tampering with evidence after the jury deliberated for less than three hours.
In their closing arguments on Wednesday, prosecutors claimed Guiterrez-Reed was ultimately responsible for the weapons and ammo that killed Hutchins when actor Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger while filming a scene for the western.
“I’m not here to tell you that Rust Productions did the right thing when they hired on a part-time armorer and they asked her to also spend her time doing props,” Special Prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the jury, KRQE reported.
“But on October 21, this was simply not the case,” he added.
“She had three hours in the morning waiting for the camera crew to arrive. She had every opportunity to go through that box of dummies.”
Guiterrez-Reed’s attorneys had argued that she was being scapegoated over larger safety issues on the Sante Fe set.
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