Their Daughter Went to a Night Concert With Her Boyfriend, Then Her Beheaded Pictures Circulated on the Internet the Next Day
The tragic case of Bianca Devins
Bianca Devins — Image from the Devins Family
It was in the early morning hours.
The police received a very sudden surge of different phone calls. The callers alerted the police about something that had been posted online.
There was a circulating picture of a young girl, almost entirely beheaded, with a knife next to her head, covered in blood.
Then the police received another phone call from the killer himself.
Dispatcher: 911. What’s your emergency?
Brandon: My name is Brandon. The victim is Bianca Michelle Devins.
I’m not gonna stay on the phone for long because I need to do the suicide part of the murder-suicide.
And then he hung up.
Bianca Was a Seventeen-Year-Old Teenager
Bianca Michelle Devins was a seventeen-year-old high school graduate from Utica, New York.
She was a talented artist and a loving young girl.
Bianca’s mother, Kimberly, tried to give her daughter the world. But Bianca’s father was abusive towards their mother.
He was controlling and manipulative. So, Kimberly left him a few years after they got married. And she took her daughters with her.
Bianca also had a little sister, Olivia.
After a few years, Bianca’s mother had another baby with another man. And Bianca loved this baby to bits.
Bianca Battled With Mental Health
Bianca and her mother Kim Devins — Image from CBSnews
Bianca struggled with mental health on the inside even though she was growing up in a loving environment.
She was diagnosed with separation anxiety at the age of nine because she couldn’t function unless her mother was by her side.
Bianca’s anxiety grew as she got older.
She had panic attacks and couldn’t go to school most days. She was later diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and severe depression.
So Bianca took refuge on the internet.
Bianca mainly used Instagram and Discord. And she had a pretty dedicated following on the platforms.
She developed a reputation amongst her followers as an e-girl.
E-girl: An aesthetic who is influenced by various sub-cultures of the past but born from the social media age.
Bianca Met Brandon on Social Media
Bianca met twenty-one-year-old Brandon Andrew Clark on Instagram while she was due to start community college.
Brandon and Bianca bonded over their mental health struggles.
Brandon clearly had feelings for Bianca.
But Bianca made it clear to him that she only wanted to be friends, even though the two were sexually involved.
Bianca told her mother about Brandon later on.
And Bianca’s mother told her to invite Brandon over so that she could meet him. So Bianca did.
Bianca’s family thought Brandon was a bit weird.
However, Bianca seemed happy, so no one said anything to her about how they felt about Brandon.
Bianca and Brandon Went to a Night Concert Together
Bianca and Brandon attended a concert in New York City on the night of July 13th, 2019.
Then the police received a surge of different phone calls in the early hours of the next morning.
The callers alerted them about something that had been posted online.
There was a picture that was circulating on Discord of a young girl.
The girl was almost entirely beheaded, she had a knife next to her head, and she was covered in blood.
The callers also thought the girl was Bianca Devins.
And the callers tracked the original poster of the picture to Brandon Clark.
Then the police received a phone call from Brandon himself telling them that he had killed Bianca and was now going to kill himself.
The Police Investigated Bianca’s Picture
The police looked deeper into Bianca’s picture because they needed to know if it was real or photoshopped.
They visited Bianca’s home to do a welfare check on her. But Bianca wasn’t home.
So the police asked Kimberly when she had last talked to her daughter. And she told them that she had texted Bianca after the concert was over.
By that point, the police were sure that Bianca’s viral picture was real.
Bianca was officially declared missing.
Multiple teams of police officers put their heads together to find Bianca as soon as possible.
The police found Brandon’s Instagram story from the night before.
He had posted a blurry photograph of what seemed to be a woman’s body torso captioned, “I’m sorry, Bianca.”
Brandon had also posted a picture on Snapchat of a large green tarp covering something large.
In another picture, Brandon’s hand was covered in dry blood.
The police located where Brandon had made the phone call. It was only ten minutes away from Bianca’s house.
So they raced to the location.
They found Brandon still alive in a wooded spot near the end of a residential road.
Brandon Started Stabbing Himself When the Police Arrived
Bianca and Brandon — Image by Bianca’s mother
Brandon started stabbing himself in the neck with a knife as the police approached him.
Meanwhile, he laid across the green tarp that covered Bianca’s body.
Then he took photos of himself on top of the tarp with blood dripping from his neck. And he posted the pictures on Snapchat.
Meanwhile, the police officers had Brandon at gunpoint. The police finally managed to disarm and arrest Brandon.
He was officially charged with second-degree murder the following day after receiving emergency surgery for his self-inflicted knife wounds.
What Happened to Bianca on the Night Of Her Murder
Bianca and Brandon got into an argument at the concert.
Brandon didn’t like the fact that Bianca considered him just a friend.
And he was jealous because of a kiss that Bianca had shared with another guy.
Bianca and Brandon left the concert sometime after 10:00 pm in Brandon’s car. But Brandon drove them to a dead-end road.
Brandon then took out a large knife and attacked Bianca, slitting her throat.
Bianca’s attack was so brutal to the extent that her head was nearly decapitated from her body.
Afterward, Brandon turned to Instagram and posted Bianca’s horrific picture. Brandon posted more graphic images of Bianca’s slain body on Discord the next morning.
Some of the members of the private chat on Discord where the photo was posted were Bianca’s friends.
So the friends, along with many other people, called the police.
Sad Facts Surrounding Bianca’s Murder
The photo of Bianca’s body remained on Brandon’s Instagram story many hours after being posted.
Bianca’s graphic images went viral with reshares and reposts that reached a lot of people.
That Monday, Bianca’s murder had its own trending hashtag, #RIPBianca.
Brandon’s Instagram gained thousands of followers in the span of time it took Instagram to take down his account.
Bianca’s Instagram account also snowballed quickly after her death. From around 2000 to over 160000 followers within weeks of her murder.
Other Instagram users used the viral moment to try to capitalize on Bianca’s follower growth.
Others created new accounts or temporarily changed their usernames to something similar to Bianca’s account.
An Opposition Campaign Emerged in Bianca’s Defense
On the bright side, a strong opposition began to form online as well, starting from the day after Bianca’s murder.
These people tried to counterattack Bianca’s traumatizing pictures.
They adopted the hashtag #pinkforbianca.
They posted thousands of pastel-colored images of sweet things like flowers, hearts, baby animals, pretty clouds, and landscapes.
All these pictures directly paid homage to Bianca’s own Instagram aesthetic.
This campaign was able to shield Bianca’s tagged posts from being overrun by graphic images of her death.
The Aftermath
Brandon was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of twenty-five years in 2021.
He will be eligible for parole in 2046.
Bianca’s mother thanked the people who spread a message of love, not violence, in Bianca’s name.
She stated,
“You have provided us much comfort in this unimaginably difficult time….
My heart is completely shattered, having lost my best friend. We will always remember her beautiful smile that lit up our lives.
Her spirit will strengthen us and live on forever.”