Bianca Devins, a 17-year-old from Utica, New York, has been identified as a homicide victim after authorities uncovered leads in the form of graphic content the murderer allegedly posted online.
According to Utica Police Department Lt. Bryan Coromato, police found the victim on Poe Street in East Utica on Sunday morning and hospitalized a man with severe lacerations who was also at the scene. The homepage for Central New York has identified the alleged murderer as Brandon Andrew Clark of Bridgeport.
The incident is still under investigation, Coromato confirmed to local outlet WKTV. "We received a few calls to dispatch, that turned into an attempt to locate and that led us to Poe, where we ultimately located the two individuals,” he said. In a statement to NBC, Coromato said that the victim was located "outside the vehicle" and the alleged perpetrator was inside. "At this point what occurred and when it occurred is part of the investigation," he continued.
The man was taken into surgery for his injuries. After emerging from the procedure, he was sedated and thus could not speak with officers on Monday.
The lieutenant said the Utica police are aware of the graphic photos of the victim dead that were circulated online, which authorities are asking viewers to report to the website's host. Coromato said he could not confirm nor deny whether the photographs are real, but he did say the murder weapon appears to have been "a sharp instrument." He revealed that one of the parents of the two people involved called authorities to alert them of "some things that were happening in the relationship."
According to NBC New York, Instagram released a statement Monday confirming the platform had removed a post uploaded by the account @yesjuliet, as it violated Instagram's policies. The social media platform stated that it has taken steps to prevent other users from posting the graphic picture. The account name is listed under Brandon Andrew Clark, and includes his birthday "Oct. 6, 1997" and the date of his death as "Sunday."
On Sunday, Ian Miles Cheong, the managing editor of Human Events, took to Twitter to report on Davis' death. He claims Clark met Davis on Discord before murdering her and broadcasting it online after he became jealous. Cheong also posted screenshots of text messages the killer allegedly sent Davis prior to killing her.
Many people then reacted to Cheong's thread on social media.
