Bianca Devins murder: Photos of teenage girl’s body posted on Instagram by boyfriend, police say
Brandon Clark allegedly published gory pictures alongside message reading: ‘I’m sorry Bianca’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A US teenager with a growing social media following was killed by a man she had recently met on Instagram who then posted photos of her dead body online, police have said.
Bianca Devins, from Utica in upstate New York was allegedly stabbed to death by Brandon Clark, 21, who is being held on a second-degree murder charge.
Police said the pair met on Instagram around two months ago, before their “relationship progressed into a personally intimate one”.
They had met each other’s families and went to a concert together in New York City on Saturday night.
After they got into an argument on the drive back to Utica, Mr Clark used a large knife to kill the 17-year-old, police said.
Mr Clark allegedly posted gory pictures of the murder on his Instagram account, alongside a message reading: “I’m sorry Bianca.”
The photos were redistributed widely on online chat sites including 4chan and Discord, where some users made light of the teen’s death while others urged people to stop sharing the images.
Authorities began receiving calls about the photos around 7.20am on Sunday and were trying to find the teen when Mr Clark called 911 to report what he had done, Utica’s public safety department said in a statement.
Officers who tracked the call found Mr Clark stabbing himself in the neck.
He then laid down on a green tarp under which Ms Devins’ body was found and took selfies before officers took him into custody, police said.
The case is being investigated as a murder and attempted suicide, Utica police Lieutenant Bryan Coromato said.
Ms Devins’ family said in a statement the teen was “a talented artist” and “a wonderful young girl, taken from us all too soon”.
“Bianca’s smile brightened our lives,” the family wrote. “She will always be remembered as our Princess.”
Utica police said they are working to address the sharing of the images with various social media platforms.
A spokesperson for Instagram said: “Our thoughts go out to those affected by this tragic event. We are taking every measure to remove this content from our platforms.
“Our goal is to take action as soon as possible – there is always room for improvement. We don’t want people seeing content that violates our policies.”