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Halyna Hutchins’ family is one step closer to filing a wrongful death lawsuit after the cinematographer was shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust” last October, court records show.
A Sante Fe, New Mexico, attorney filed a petition Wednesday asking the court to appoint her as the personal representative of Hutchins’ estate “solely for the purpose of investigating and pursuing a lawsuit under the New Mexico Wrongful Death Act,” the records show.
New Mexico law requires the appointment of a personal representative before a wrongful death lawsuit can be pursued, which the estate has three years from the time of Hutchins’ death to file.
The attorney, Kristina Martinez, noted in the filing that Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, and her 9-year-old son support the petition.
On Oct. 21 last year, Hutchins was setting up a shot on the set of the doomed Western when Baldwin, who was rehearsing a scene, accidentally shot her and injured the film’s director while practicing a “cross draw” with a Colt .45.
Baldwin has claimed that he did not fire the weapon and Santa Fe investigators have been working to determine how live rounds ended up in the gun to begin with.
About a week after Hutchins’ death, her widower tapped a Los Angeles law firm that specializes in wrongful death suits, signaling he planned to file one against the production company.
Hutchins’ family didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
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