Prosecutors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, announced on Thursday that actor Alec Baldwin would be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for the movie, is accused of the same offenses, according to a written statement from First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.
In addition to those accusations, the release states that Assistant Director David Halls "has entered a plea agreement for the allegation of negligent use of a lethal weapon."
According to Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor chosen by Carmack-Altwies, "Halyna Hutchins would be alive today if any one of these three people—Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, or David Halls—had done their job." That's how easy it is.
Reviewing the facts in the case, Reeb continued, "clearly reveals a pattern of criminal disregard for safety" on the movie set.
Luke Nikas, the lawyer for Baldwin, described the choice to press charges as "a horrific miscarriage of justice" and a distorting of a tragedy.
According to Nikas, the actor "relied on the specialists with whom he worked, who told him the gun did not hold live ammunition." "We'll fight these accusations, and we'll prevail."
Hutchins was killed in October 2021 when Baldwin shot a live cartridge from a Colt.45 caliber revolver while holding the weapon. They were acting out a scenario for the Western movie at the moment.
Baldwin has insisted that Hutchins' death was the result of a terrible accident, claiming that Hutchins didn't purposefully shoot the gun and had no knowledge it had live ammo when the cast and crew assembled to practice a scene for the movie.