The gunsmith from the film Rust sentenced to 18 months in prison

Image source, Getty ImagesBy Samantha Granville in Los Angeles and Helen BushbyBBC News

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the on-set gun handler who loaded a gun for actor Alec Baldwin before shooting and killing a cinematographer was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

The gunsmith, 26, was convicted of manslaughter in March.

She was found not guilty of a second charge - tampering with evidence - relating to the 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

The sentence Gutierrez-Reed received is the maximum possible.

Mr. Baldwin, 65, also faces trial on manslaughter charges in July. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, who handed down the sentence Monday in a New Mexico court, said the actions of Gutierrez-Reed constitute a serious and violent offense, committed in a physically violent manner.

"You alone transformed a safe weapon into a deadly weapon", said Judge Sommer, addressing the gunsmith. . "Without you, Mrs. Hutchins would be alive. A husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother."