A New Mexico judge cited Hanna Gutierrez Reed's apparent lack of remorse in her sentencing decision.
A weapons supervisor for the movie “The Last” has been sentenced to 18 months in prison in the United States for his role in the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halina Hutchins.
Hanna Gutierrez Reed, the armorer who appeared in the film, was found guilty of manslaughter on March 6 and received the maximum sentence at a hearing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Monday.
State Judge Mary Marlow Sommer, who handed down the sentence, said Gutierrez-Reed had a responsibility to keep the set safe and failed to do so.
“You were an armorer, someone who stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone,” Marlow Sommer said.
“Only you turned a safe weapon into a deadly weapon. But to you, Ms. Hutchins will be alive, her husband will have a partner, and the little boy will have a mother.”
Hutchins' murder in October 2021 shocked the Hollywood film industry.
The Last star and producer Alec Baldwin was practicing for a gunfight scene with a revolver when the gun went off.
The revolver was loaded with live ammunition (banned on American movie sets), and the bullet struck Hutchins in the chest. She died on the way to the hospital.
Manager Joel Souza was also hit by a bullet, but he is now recovering from his injuries.
Although Baldwin has repeatedly denied pulling the trigger, a forensic analysis by prosecutors concluded that the revolver was unlikely to fire unless Baldwin pulled the trigger.
He will also go on trial for manslaughter in July and faces a similar sentence of up to 18 months in prison.
Prior to Monday's sentencing, defense attorneys asked the judge to consider the “devastating impact the felony would have” on 26-year-old Gutierrez-Reed.
But prosecutors emphasized Gutierrez-Reed's lack of remorse.
“Mr. Gutierrez continues to deny responsibility for his role in the death of Halina Hutchins,” said Special Counsel Kari Morrissey.
In a court filing earlier this month, prosecutors charged Gutierrez-Reed with “recklessness in the face of knowledge that her conduct was reasonably likely to result in serious harm.” He called for the maximum penalty.
They cited cases in which Gutierrez-Reed allegedly possessed cocaine and smuggled firearms into bars, and she is charged in separate cases.
The filing also outlines phone calls made inside the jail in which Gutierrez-Reed reportedly said things like, “I can't believe the judge put me in jail,'' and “I was wrongly imprisoned.'' has been done.
These calls appear to have influenced the outcome of her sentencing hearing.
“The word 'regret' – the deep regret that comes from guilt over past wrongs – is not you,” Judge Marlow Sommer said, referring to portions of the phone call records.
Family and friends of the late Hutchins gathered at the sentencing hearing to give statements and pay their respects.
Co-worker Jen White said: “This was not an accident, it was a mistake and we are having a hard time dealing with being called an accident so many times.”
Hutchins' mother, Olga Solovey, also attended the hearing via video conference from her native Kiev, Ukraine.
She testified in Ukrainian about the impact of her daughter's death. She said, “Losing a child is the hardest thing. There are no words to describe it.”