Family of Rust set shooting victim demands sheriff remove graphic video of her last moments

Letter sent days after release of hundreds of files of evidence

The family of Halyna Hutchins has demanded the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office remove a video showing her final moments on the set of the film Rust.

The footage, which was released amid hundreds of pieces of evidence from the ongoing investigation into her death in October, contained a video of the cinematographer’s final moments.

In a letter sent on behalf of Hutchins’s family on Thursday, lawyers for her husband Matthew Hutchins demanded the video of her last moments be taken down, reported CNN.

The clip shows emergency responders attending to Hutchins, 42, inside a church on the set of the film Rust after a gun held by actorAlec Baldwin triggered without apparent warning.

The letter, which was seen by the network, labelled the release of evidence from the investigation as causing “irreparable” damage to her immediate family, including their young son.

“Your office trampled on the constitutional rights of the Hutchins,” said the letter, which claimed Mr Hutchins had “less than a business day to review the materials.” 

Due to the “sheer volume of material,” the letter claimed, there was “a wholly inadequate amount of time” to review the files and for the family “to request that discretion be exercised, and sensitive material be redacted”.

“While the damage of publishing the video is irreparable, taking down the video will end your office’s complicity in causing further harm,” the letter ends.

Emergency responders attend to Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust (PA)

Speaking with ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said his investigation was nearing completion and that the release of the files were a matter of “transparency”.

“We’re in response to a public records request, where we’re required to release the information, and it was also an effort to be transparent in the investigation,” the sheriff said.

Hutchins was fatally shot on the set near Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 21 October 2021 when Mr Baldwin, 64, allegedly held a gun that fired without him touching the trigger. The film’s director, Joel Souza, also sustained injuries.

Among the other pieces of evidence released this week were text messages sent by the armorer on set, body camera footage from police arriving at the scene, and interviews with witnesses.

It remains unclear however how the ammunition made its way onto the set, and no charges have been filed.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.