After 15 agonizing months of investigations, questioning, police reports and trials, Santa Fe prosecutors today finally announced charges in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.
Actor Alec Baldwin faces involuntary manslaughter charges, as does gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Deputy Director Dave Halls pleaded guilty to one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
Hutchins was shot dead by actor Alec Baldwin on October 21, 2021.
Since then, the world has watched as a tortured Baldwin insisted it was an accident – but that he didn’t pull the trigger – while Hutchin’s family went from sympathy to outrage.
Here, breaks down the key evidence and details over the past 15 months that led to the decision today.
OCTOBER 21 – SHOOTING
While filming their western Rust on the outskirts of Santa Fe, Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza on set.
Baldwin had been practicing drawing his gun from its holster.
Baldwin on the set of the film with Halyna Hutchins before she was shot
The bullet pierced Souza’s shoulder but went straight into Hutchin’s chest.
She was taken to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, much to the shock and horror of the film’s cast and crew.
CLAIMS OF AN UNCERTAIN SET AND WALK-OFFS BY A BREDED CREW
Immediately after filming, it emerged that the production had been plagued by staff grievances.
Days before the incident, several members of the crew even left the set.
Their complaints included concerns about Dave Halls, the assistant director, who had been accused of running unsafe sets in the past.
Some said they were forced to sleep in their cars next to the set because hotel rooms next to the set were too expensive. Instead, their rooms were booked in Santa Fe, which is a 30-minute drive from Bonanza Creek Ranch, the set’s filming location.
Baldwin is seen on October 21, 2021 after speaking to investigators about the fatal shooting
They also complained about long hours and claimed they didn’t receive paychecks on time.
Almost immediately, attention was drawn to gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a 24-year-old whose father was well-known in the industry and had little experience in the role.
A YOUNG, “CAREFREE” GUN GUNSMAN
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, almost immediately found herself at the center of the scandal.
Her track record quickly emerged, with former colleagues rushing to speak out about how “carefree” she’d been on past sets, how she’d “waved guns around” and even punched a child actress.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, almost immediately found herself at the center of the scandal
She hired a group of lawyers who immediately began making statements to combat the claims.
HUTCHINS’ FAMILY COMES TO BALDWIN AND SUE
It’s impossible to deny the grief and dread that Baldwin wrote all over the place upon learning that Hutchins had died.
He was standing in the parking lot of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office after being questioned and was photographed by a photographer for the local newspaper when he broke down in shock and tears on the phone.
Shortly after, he released a statement, saying: “There are no words to express my shock and sadness at the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hucthins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.
Hutchins with her son and husband Matthew
“I am fully cooperating with the police investigation to clarify how his tragedy happened.”
First, Hutchins’ widower Matthew said Baldwin was “supportive.”
But in February 2022, he sued the actor along with other Rust producers, citing “reckless conduct and cost-cutting,” which they claim contributed to her death.
Baldwin settled out of court with Hutchins and agreed to make him executive producer on the film once production resumed.
BALDWIN’S POLICE INTERVIEW – HE INSISTS he ‘cocked’ the gun but didn’t pull the trigger
Baldwin insisted to police that he was told the gun was “cold” when it was handed to him and, crucially, that he did not pull the trigger.
“We’ve been doing this for two weeks and we’re doing it right every day. Just before you shoot. I went to lunch. ‘She disarmed me – Hannah – she always used the gun. I come back, they give me the revolver – Hannah – they arm me. You assume it’s a cold gun. I put the gag in the shot.
“I take out the gun as it clears – I turn and cock the gun and the gun goes off. It’s supposed to be a cold weapon. Bang her [Hutchins] hits the ground. [Joel Souza] goes down and yells “Jesus Christ!”
“I’ve never seen that before… What came out of that bullet that went through her shoulder? … She was right in front of me,” he said.
Towards the end of the interview, Baldwin is shown a photo of what was removed from Souza’s shoulder.
Shocked, he says, “It’s a bullet. Someone put a live bullet in the gun.’
Then he is asked.
“Did you see the cartridges in the gun?”
‘No.’
“Have you seen what they look like?”
“I’ve watched her load and reload the gun many times.”
“Did you see the bullets?”
“Sometimes the head is a shell, it’s pinched and closed at the top, and you pop in the cosmetic cartridge when you know you’re going to see… these clay-based cartridges look exactly like a bullet.
“So cosmetically you can see that in the cylinder. I’m very upset right now… forgive me.’
BALDWIN’S PR OFFENSIVE – ACTOR ILLUMINATES SHOOTING RESPONSIBILITY IN DRAMATIC ABC INTERVIEW HAVING HALYNA’S HUSBAND ‘P****D OFF’
In December 2021, Baldwin — who had maintained a dignified silence — went on the offensive.
He sat down for an interview with ABC in which he firmly denied pulling the trigger and said he didn’t feel responsible for it because it wasn’t his fault.
“Someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who it is, but I’m not.
“Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible, I might have killed myself. And I don’t say that lightly.’
Alec Baldwin, 63, spoke to George Stephanopoulos for an interview that aired Thursday
After the interview aired, Baldwin posted a photo on Instagram of him cradling one of his six young children.
“No matter what happens to me. No matter what I suffer Whether I win or lose, everything. anything. No one can take away the joy and love you gave me @hilariabaldwin,” he wrote.
“These are tough times. The world is choked with smoke of hatred. But you gave me a reason to live. Our life with our family is all that matters to me. nothing else. I owe you that.”
Halyna’s husband was outraged.
“How is he not in charge?” he said in his own interview with NBC.
VIDEO RE-FILMING PRODUCED BY THE HALYNA FAMILY ATTORNEYS
Furious about Baldwin’s ABC interview and desperate for answers, Halyna’s widower and his attorneys commissioned a dramatic CGI video recreation of the incident.
The video showed Baldwin cocking his gun and firing it suddenly – going straight through Halyna’s chest and grazing Joel Souza’s shoulder.
The video was filed against Baldwin and the producers as part of their wrongful death lawsuit, but has become part of the public record and discussion surrounding the case.
The FBI releases a damning report claiming Baldwin pulled the trigger
In August 2022, the FBI released its damning report on the case.
The key to success was the finding, based on a forensic analysis of the gun, that Baldwin needed to pull the trigger so he could fire when the gun was cocked, as he said.
The FBI said that in testing it was possible that the gun could be fired without pulling a trigger if the gun was not cocked — but Baldwin had insisted that was the case.
It was the most devastating statement possible for Baldwin, who had so emphatically denied pulling the trigger.
The key to success was the finding, based on a forensic analysis of the gun, that Baldwin needed to pull the trigger so he could fire when the gun was cocked, as he said.
His lawyers immediately went to work to deny it, insisting it wasn’t a trustworthy finding and that the reasons for it were shaky, saying the FBI could only trigger it once in the test after it pulled the trigger, but didn’t. That didn’t necessarily mean he was lying.
“The FBI report is being misconstrued. The gun fired only once in testing – without having to pull the trigger – when the hammer was pulled back and the gun broke in two different places.
“The FBI couldn’t fire the gun on any previous test, even with the trigger pulled, because it was in such poor condition,” his attorneys said.
POLICE INTERVIEWS
In their own police interviews, Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, and Kenney attempted to blame each other or Baldwin.
Seth Kenney insisted the fault lay with Gutierrez-Reed, who he said was gun-loving and eager to fire live rounds.
“She wanted to shoot live ammunition out of the guns, the guns from the TV movies. I said no f ——- way obviously. And then she confirmed.
“Below, right, you saw where she said I’m going to shoot her out of mine now,” he said, referring to messages between the two.
She told police the fault lay with Baldwin, who was “distracted” and “on his phone” during practice.
Dave Halls, Associate Director, said: