July 17, 2019

Anna Murray 

Bianca Devins, 17, a Utica, New York teen in the US, just graduated high school in June and was preparing to attend psychology at her local community college in the fall. Online Devins was a popular Instagram star with more than 70,000 followers. Devins and her murder suspect, Brandon Andrew Clark, 21, met on Instagram and had been seeing each other for two months and “were acquainted with each other's families.”

They attended a New York City concert together on the night of July 13 and reportedly had an argument at the venue. According to authorities, they returned Utica in the early morning of July 14, the argument progressed until Clark slashed Devins’ throat, nearly decapitating her, with a large, black-handled knife. Clark then posted pictures of the girl's corpse online before police were alerted about the murder by a phone call at 7:20 a.m.

Utica policeman Lt. Bryan Coromato said the police were able to triangulate Clark’s location based on his cell phone. When the police found him, he began stabbing himself in front of an officer. Later Clark was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for emergency surgery but is expected to survive. The case is being investigated as a homicide and attempted suicide.

Devins’ family described the teen star as “a talented artist”, “a wonderful young girl, taken from us all too soon” and wrote, "She will always be remembered as our Princess." The Utica City School District also issued a statement to "share our deepest heartfelt condolences with her family and loved ones."

Photo:Webshot.