Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez was given the maximum sentence Monday of 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Gutierrez’s attorneys asked for probation in a sentencing memorandum filed last week, citing her “complete lack of prior criminal history” and “relative youth.” Prosecutors, meanwhile, requested a sentence of 18 months with the designation of serious violent offender due to her “extreme recklessness” while working as an armorer on the Rust set in New Mexico.
“You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said. “But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive. A husband would have his partner, and a little boy would have his mother.”
Gutierrez said to the court, “My heart aches for the Hutchins family and friends and colleagues, as well.”
“Your honor, when I took on Rust I was young and I was naive. But I took my job as seriously as I knew how to, despite not having proper time, resources and staffing, I just did my best to handle it,” she said. “Today I humbly ask you to consider probation. … I beg you, please don’t give me more time.”
Gutierrez, dressed in tan jail clothes, watched on as Hutchins’ friends addressed the court before the sentence was imposed.
Hutchins’ friend Jen White told the court, “I still expect to see her. I still wonder what adventures she’s on … then my heart drops through my feet.”
“Halyna was a force,” White said.
“She inspired me. And I don’t think she knew that because I never got to tell her. She was one of my favorite people in the world,” White said, as Gutierrez wiped away tears.
White said if Gutierrez “had properly done her job, Halyna would still be alive.” She addressed the judge, “I beg you to impose the maximum sentence. She needs to be held accountable.”
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