After almost three years, Alec Baldwin’s jury selection for the accidental shooting on the Rust set that led to the fatal death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins began today on Tuesday, July 9.
In 2021, while filming Rust — which has not been released — the 66-year-old actor was rehearsing a scene that required a Colt .45 revolver – as a prop – when the gun ended up firing and ultimately killing the 42-year-old crew member.
The news left the Beetlejuice actor in shock as he shared on social media the following day, “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours… I am fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”
Alec ultimately was charged with involuntary manslaughter by a grand jury in January 2023, but was later dropped in April that year. The trial is set to take place until July 19.
During an interview with ABC News in 2021, he shared, “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never…Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
Since her passing, he commemorated exactly a year after the horrific day. He shared a snap on Instagram of Halyna and wrote, “One year ago today…”
The on-set armor member, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was sentenced to 18 months in prison as a result of being found guilty for involuntary manslaughter. “I did not hear you take accountability in your allocution. You said you were sorry, but not (that) you were sorry for what you did…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,” the New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer announced.