Prosecutors in the US state of New Mexico want to charge actor Alec Baldwin after he was shot dead at a western filming. The announcement was made by the authority on Thursday, after more than a year of investigations. Specifically, Baldwin is charged with negligent homicide following the death of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins. Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is also on trial for the crime.
“After extensively studying the evidence and law in the state of New Mexico, I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to charge Alec Baldwin and another member of the ‘Rust’ film crew,” said attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies above the law. “In New Mexico, manslaughter carries a penalty of up to 18 months in prison and a fine of $5,000.
Baldwin accidentally shot and killed 42-year-old cinematographer Hutchins with a propelled gun while filming the western Rust in October 2021. Director Joel Souza was hit in the shoulder by the projectile and injured in the incident. The revolver had been loaded with a live round instead of a propelled one. In 2022, Baldwin, as lead actor and producer of the Western, finally reached an out-of-court settlement in a civil lawsuit with the late Hutchins’ widower. “We all believe that Halyna’s death was a terrible accident,” the widower said at the time.