17-Year-Old Instagram Star Murdered, Photos Posted to Social Media

Bianca Devins was a 17-year-old girl from Utica, New York, who friends and family described as fun-loving, caring, and laid back. She had a large social media fan base in July 2019 when she met 21-year-old Brandon Clark through her Instagram page.

Bianca Flourished Online

Socially awkward and afflicted by an illness called Borderline Personality Disorder, Bianca felt comfortable communicating with people online. It gave her the confidence to be herself and helped her make friends, which did not easily happen locally.

Brandon and Bianca decided to meet in person, months after they hit it off online. Soon, the two developed a strong friendship and frequently visited each other. Brandon met Bianca’s family, who said he seemed like a nice kid, but thought he wanted more from her than a friendship. Bianca assured them Brandon knew it was nothing more and was fine with that.

Friends Attend Concert

On July 14, Bianca and her friends attended a concert. Brandon was the driver for the group of them. After arrival, Brandon left the concert to pick up something from a local convenience store. When he returned, he saw Bianca kissing a guy named Alex. This enraged Brandon.

Bianca and Brandon left the concert, at which time she began to text her friend, stating she felt paranoid. Bianca began constantly texting her friend at that point. Then the texts stopped.

The friend did not think a lot about the texts stopping until she received a message in a Discord group she was part of.

Dead Body Photo Posted to Discord

On the morning of her death, a man appearing to be Clark posted a photo of Devins’ dead body on Discord along with the caption, “Sorry fuckers, you’re going to have find someone else to orbit,” prompting confusion and horror among her friends. When Clark was apprehended by police, he was lying on top of Devins’ body and live streaming his attempted suicide. He survived his injuries and was charged with second-degree murder.

Photos go Viral

The photos went viral across several social media platforms. Many people (myself included) thought little of the photos since shocking and oftentimes fake gore photos make their rounds online to get a rise out of people. No sooner than I had time to comment “its just another fake photo to piss people off” on at least a handful of social media posts, police confirmed the news.

Making matters worse, several people sent the photos to Bianca’s mother and other relatives. People sent messages saying that Bianca deserved to be murdered and thought it would be funny to send the dark humor memes to them. In my opinion, those people are no better than Brandon.

Premeditated Murder or Rage?

Although friends say he flew into a rage when he saw Bianca kiss the other boy, prosecutors suspect the murder had been planned for some time. They found a mound of evidence suggesting as much, including ropes, knives, and assorted tools located at the scene. They also located a suicide note in his home.

He initially pleaded not guilty to the murder but changed his plea shortly before the start of his trial. He was sentenced to 25-years to life for Bianca’s murder.

He addressed the court and family stating:

“I think I need to realize what I did I can’t undo, as much as I want to,” Clark said in court. “I need to face it. I apologize to all the people that knew and loved her. I apologize to everybody affected by this, to everybody who had to see that horrific picture of her. I know sorry is not enough and it won’t take back what I did. I wish I had more to give.”

Rest Easy, Bianca.

My condolences to the family.

Resources & Additional Information:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bianca-devins-murder-violent-images-psychological-terrorism-48-hours/