Alec Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, New Mexico prosecutors announced on Thursday.
"After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the ‘Rust’ film crew," New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a statement.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who worked as armorer on the set of the Western movie, faces similar charges. The prosecutors stated that they would file the criminal charges before the end of the month.
Rust Assistant Director Dave Halls, for his part, has signed a plea deal for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. Halls was the one who handed the gun to Baldwin. He had previously told police that he should have checked all of the rounds inside the barrel after receiving the gun from Gutierrez-Reed.
Both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed face a maximum of 18 months in prison if found guilty.
In October 2021, the 64-year-old actor fired a prop gun which discharged a live round and injured director Joel Souza and killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins.
He has continuously insisted that he did not pull the trigger, and that the gun went off accidentally, but a forensic analysis of the prop gun by the FBI concluded he did. During interviews with police, the actor said he believed that the weapon he had been handed was an unloaded "cold gun". He said that "someone else" was responsible for the fatal shooting.
Likewise, Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of ammo and weapons on set, has repeatedly denied responsibility for the shooting.