It has been five years since cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on the New Mexico set of the ill-fated Western, Rust.
The 42-year-old’s death sparked years of criminal investigations and lawsuits, even as the movie was finally finished at a new location in Livingston, Montana, and released in May 2025 to middling reviews.
But while the man who pulled the trigger – actor Alec Baldwin – got off scot-free after an involuntary manslaughter case against him was tossed in July 2024, one person was convicted: the film’s youthful armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
Gutierrez-Reed was just 26 when she was slapped with an 18-month sentence in April 2024 after being convicted on the same involuntary manslaughter charge that Baldwin had faced.
Now, the Daily Mail can exclusively reveal that Gutierrez-Reed has given up on her dream of working in movies and is training to become a tattoo artist in her native Bullhead City, Arizona.
Now heavily tattooed, Gutierrez-Reed was surprised to be approached by the Daily Mail about the fifth anniversary of Hutchins’ death, telling our reporter: ‘I honestly thought people kind of just forgot [about it].’
She added: ‘Oh, jeez. I’ll have to go back into hiding again.’
The now-29-year-old is also running a piercing business out of the same tattoo parlor, called Little Pricks Piercings, which has a wryly humorous tagline: ‘Need a new coping mechanism? We do piercings that heal faster than heartbreak!
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s youthful armorer, was the only one from the set to have served prison time in relation to Hutchins’ death
Gutierrez-Reed is now training to become a tattoo artist in Arizona – more than a year after she was released from prison over the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
The 29-year-old, who was slapped with an 18-month sentence in April 2024 after being convicted on a involuntary manslaughter charge, is also now running a piercing business, called Little Pricks Piercings, out of a tattoo parlor
Sporting a sleeve of tattoos, Gutierrez-Reed appeared changed from the haunted figure she cut at trial when the Daily Mail approached her recently in Arizona
‘Come for my gentle touch, stay for the terrible jokes.’
She also appears to have moved on in her personal life and was photographed outside her modest home with a new man who later dropped her off at work.
Gutierrez-Reed, who was released from prison in May 2025 and completed probation a year later, also appeared changed from the haunted figure she cut at trial, where she begged the judge not to send her away.
Of all those involved in Hutchins’ fatal shooting on October 21, 2021, Gutierrez-Reed is the only one to have paid a substantial price – found criminally liable for bringing to the set live rounds that were then accidentally mixed with the blanks that would usually be used.
She served her sentence at the bleak Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants before being released five months early due to good behavior and time-served credits.
At her sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed had begged to be spared prison, telling the judge: ‘Your honor, when I took on Rust, I was young and naive. But I took my job as seriously as I knew how to.’
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old mother, was accidentally shot dead by Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin on the set of his western movie Rust as filming was underway in Santa Fe
Baldwin, pictured in court, was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter but the case was dismissed with prejudice in July 2024 when Santa Fe prosecutors were caught withholding crucial evidence from the defense team
She added: ‘I beg you, please, don’t give me more time. The jury has found me in part at fault for this horrible tragedy, but that doesn’t make me a monster. That makes me human.’
The judge, however, disagreed.
‘You were the armorer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone,’ the judge told Gutierrez-Reed.
‘You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon. But for you, Ms. Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.’
While Gutierrez-Reed is now rebuilding her life, assistant director David Halls, who pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, has gone to ground and has not been seen publicly since receiving six months of unsupervised probation in 2023.
Baldwin, meanwhile, has continued to insist his innocence in Hutchins’ death after the involuntary manslaughter charge against him was dismissed with prejudice when Santa Fe prosecutors were caught withholding crucial evidence from the defense team.
Gutierrez-Reed has given up on her dream of working in movies and is now running a piercing business out of the same parlor where she is currently training to be a tattoo artist (Source: Hannah Gutierrez/Instagram)
Her piercing business, Little Pricks Piercings, has a wryly humorous tagline: ‘Need a new coping mechanism? We do piercings that heal faster than heartbreak!’
Gutierrez-Reed also appears to have moved on in her personal life and was photographed outside her modest home with a new man who later dropped her off at her workplace (pictured above)
Baldwin’s wife, Hilaria, who was born Hilary Hayward-Thomas, later claimed the episode had left the actor with PTSD. He is currently pursuing a civil rights lawsuit against the Santa Fe DA and other officials for wrongful prosecution.
That case was initially tossed in July 2025 but reinstated and moved to Federal court the following October.
Baldwin has also faced multiple lawsuits from Hutchins’ family and the Rust crew who claimed that, as a co-producer, he cut corners, slashed budgets to the bone and oversaw a set so chaotic, several crew members walked out in the lead up to the tragedy.
The shooting unfolded back in October 2021, two weeks into filming, when Baldwin was practicing drawing out his character’s gun from its holster.
Gutierrez-Reed served her sentence at the bleak Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Grants before being released five months early due to good behavior and time-served credits
Gutierrez-Reed begged the judge not to send her to the slammer during the 2024 trial
He was pointing the revolver at Hutchins when it fired – killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
Immediately after the shots were fired, police bodycam footage showed Gutierrez-Reed telling a cop she had just ‘f**ked up my whole entire career.’
Asked if she was the film’s armorer, she responded, ‘I am, or at least I was,’ before saying: ‘Welcome to the worst day of my life.’
She added, ‘I just want to get the f**k out of here and never show my face in this industry again.
‘I’m the only female armorer in the game and I just f**ked up my whole entire career.’
She is the daughter of Thell Reed, a Hollywood armorer and stuntman who has worked on films including LA Confidential, Tombstone and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
