Alec Baldwin Has Been Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter for ‘Rust’ Shooting

New Mexico prosecutors have charged actor and producer Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 on-set shooting during the filming of Rust that killed 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who loaded the pistol which killed Hutchins, were both charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said in a statement to VICE News. Each charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 18 months in prison.

First assistant director Dave Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun, has pleaded guilty to “negligent use of a deadly weapon,” said the office of Mary Carmack-Altwies, the district attorney whose jurisdiction includes Santa Fe. A copy of the plea agreement was not immediately made available but includes a suspended sentence and six months’ probation, according to Carmack-Altwies’ office.

“If any one of these three people—Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez Reed or David Halls—had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today,” special prosecutor Andrea Reeb said in a statement to Variety. “It’s that simple. The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously.”

Luke Nikas, an attorney representing Baldwin, said in a statement to VICE News that the decision to charge Baldwin “distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice.”