Actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced Thursday.
While filming a scene on the set of “Rust” in Santa Fe, New Mexico in October of 2021, Baldwin fired a live round of ammunition from a prop gun at Hutchens, striking and killing her. The notorious rageaholic is facing 18 months in prison.
The armorer on the film, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and faces jailtime. The armorer, or weapons master, is responsible for maintaining control of prop weapons, including firearms.
David Halls, the assistant director on the film, reportedly agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon. The terms of the plea deal “include a suspended sentence and six months of probation.” He is expected to testify against Baldwin in the upcoming trial.
Altwies said her office does not plan to charge anyone else in connection with the case.
The district attorney said that there was a lack of safety standards on the set. “Nobody was doing their job,” she told CNN’s Josh Campbell after announcing charges in the case.
“Every person that handles a gun has a duty to make sure, if they are going to handle that gun—point it at someone and pull the trigger—that it is not going to fire a projectile and kill someone, and this is really about justice for Halyna Hutchins,” Altwies added.
“Our involuntary manslaughter statute covers unintentional killings, unintentional homicides,” she continued. “Unintentional means they didn’t mean to do it, they didn’t have the intent to kill, but it happened anyway — and it happened because of more than mere negligence, because they didn’t exercise due caution or circumspection, and that’s what happened here.”
The DA said she will formally file the charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez “before the end of this month.”
“We will not be asking for an arrest,”Altwies told CNN. “We’ll send out what’s called a summons. From that, the court will set what’s called a first appearance, or, it’s basically an arraignment. And at that point they will either have to come here (to New Mexico) or they might do a video arraignment, we have been doing those since Covid, and they will get their conditions of release and enter not guilty pleas.”
Baldwin’s attorney blasted the charges, calling them a “terrible miscarriage of justice” in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice,” Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel said. “Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
In a statement, the Hutchins family thanked law enforcement and said they it was comforting to know that “no one is above the law.”
“We want to thank the Santa Fe Sheriff and the District Attorney for concluding their thorough investigation and determining that charges for involuntary manslaughter are warranted for the killing of Halyna Hutchins with conscious disregard for human life,” said Hutchins family attorney Brian J. Panish.
“Our independent investigation also supports charges are warranted. It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law. We support the charges, will fully cooperate with this prosecution, and fervently hope the justice system works to protect the public and hold accountable those who break the law.”