A New York man was charged with murder Monday and is accused of killing a teenager whom he met on Instagram and posting photos of her dead body on the messaging platform Discord, authorities said.
The man, identified as Brandon Clark, 21, faces a second-degree murder charge in the killing of Bianca Devins, 17, said Sgt. Michael Curley of the Utica Police Department.
In a brief statement Monday night, Curley said Clark had been arraigned and was in custody at Oneida County Jail in upstate New York.
Earlier, the department said in a statement that Clark called 911 Sunday morning and “made incriminating statements” about killing Devins and indicated that he might also harm himself.
Police were able to track down Clark’s location by tracing where he was calling from — he was eventually found lying on the ground next to a black SUV on a dead end street in the city of Utica.
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“The officer approached this male, and almost immediately, he began to stab himself in the neck with a knife,” the statement said.
After injuring himself, Clark laid down on top of a green tarp, and he told police Devins’ body was under it. He then took out his cellphone and began taking selfies while lying atop the woman’s covered body, police said.
Once backup officers arrived on the scene, police disarmed Clark and took him into custody. He sustained severe injuries but was expected to survive after undergoing emergency surgery, police said.
Police said that Devins, of Utica, and Clark, of nearby Bridgewater, met on Instagram roughly two months ago. Their relationship had turned into a “personally intimate one,” authorities said.
On Saturday, the two got into an argument after driving back to Utica from a concert in New York City, police said.
The statement didn’t say what the argument was about, but investigators learned that after returning to Utica, Clark stabbed Devins using a large knife “to inflict the injuries that caused her death.”
“During this time it is believed that he took and distributed photographs of the killing on the Discord platform,” the statement said. “Members of Discord then viewed the images and posts and contacted the Utica Police Department.”
In a statement, Devins’ family described her as a “talented artist, a loving sister, daughter, and cousin, and a wonderful young girl.”
She had graduated from T.R. Proctor High School in June and planned on attending a local community college in the fall.
“She is now looking down on us, as she joins her cat, Belle, in heaven,” the statement said. “Bianca’s smile brightened our lives. She will always be remembered as our Princess.”