Armorer jailed after Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer on Rust set is released from prison

The movie armorer Halyna Hutchins has been released from a New Mexico prison on parole.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, now 28, was found guilty in March 2024 of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal on-set shooting of Hutchins.

Upon completion of her 18-month sentence, Gutierrez-Reed signed out of the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility on Friday to return home to Bullhead City, Arizona, prison records show.

Gutierrez-Reed is also being supervised under terms of probation after pleading guilty to a separate charge of unlawfully carrying a gun into a licensed liquor establishment.

Hutchins was tragically killed in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on Rust, discharged during a rehearsal, fatally striking her and injuring director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has maintained his innocence, insisting in interviews with authorities that he never pulled the revolver’s trigger.

Following a thorough investigation, it was determined that live ammunition had somehow made its way onto the set. Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing the live ammunition on set and flouting basic safety protocols for weapons handling.

It was found that Gutierrez-Reed had carried a gun into a downtown Santa Fe bar where firearms are prohibited weeks before Rust began filming.

Gutierrez-Reed was handed the maximum 18-month sentence. Jurors acquitted her of allegations that she tampered with evidence in the Rust investigation. She currently has an appeal against the conviction pending in a higher court.

The terms of her parole include mental health assessments and a prohibition on firearms ownership and possession.

An involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed at trial last year on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense.

Months after the tragic on-set shooting, filming for Rust resumed. The Western was eventually completed in Montana and was released in select theaters earlier this month.

The film, which follows a recently orphaned 13-year-old boy whose grandfather takes him on a journey to old Mexico after he’s been sentenced to death for an accidental killing, was deemed a “tough slog” by critics.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press