It was July 13, 2019. It’s a Saturday. Bianca Devins, 17, went to a Nicole Dollanganger concert in New York City with two friends.

On the 14th of July, police were called to Bianca’s family home in Utica, New York, United States. Bianca had two younger sisters, Olivia and Maddy, and Olivia was the one who let the cops in. When they asked where Bianca was, she said she didn’t know.

Kim Devins, their mother, was at home at the time and informed police that Bianca had not returned from the concert. Police stated that they were there to conduct a welfare check because they were concerned that something had happened to Bianca. Kim was terrified because she didn’t know where Bianca was. They instructed her to contact Bianca. She did, but the call was routed to voicemail.

When the cops asked Kim how Bianca was when she left the house the night before, she said she was excited and looking forward to it because it was her first real concert. She had graduated from high school two weeks before and was celebrating and relaxing before beginning college. She had enrolled in a psychology program. Bianca texted Kim after the concert around 10 p.m. to let her know she was leaving, and that was the last time she heard from her.

Bianca Devins

Police were called to Bianca’s house to conduct a welfare check after receiving multiple 911 calls about a graphic image posted online that morning at 6.40am of what appeared to be a severely injured or dead woman, which they suspected was Bianca. They needed to find her to determine whether or not the image was a hoax posted on the online platform Discord, and if it was the latter, they knew they needed to find her quickly.

A few moments later, another 911 call was placed. Brandon Andrew Clark, a twenty-one-year-old man, dialed 911. Brandon had gone to the concert with Bianca the night before:

DISPATCHER: 911. What exactly is your situation?
BRANDON CLARK: Brandon is my name. Bianca Michelle Devins is the victim. … I’m going to commit suicide.

Kim was perplexed when police informed her that Brandon had called 911 and that he may have harmed Bianca. She had several encounters with him. He was a Lyft driver who was always courteous, and they weren’t concerned when Bianca rode with him anywhere. Bianca and Brandon met on Instagram in May 2019, and while they dated briefly and the relationship ended, they remained friends. Brandon frequently called Bianca’s house, and Kim took solace in the fact that Bianca was going to the concert with Brandon that night. She assumed she was safe.

Brandon told police where he could be found. He shared more photos of Bianca online with the caption:

“I’m sorry Bianca.”

Police first noticed his parked car, then Brandon. He was armed with a knife, and in the presence of police, he slashed himself across the neck with the knife and posted a selfie with the words:

“Ashes to ashes.”

Brandon was apprehended by police and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. They discovered Bianca’s body beneath a tarp at that point. Her throat had been slashed and she had been stabbed to death. The images that were posted on the internet were genuine.

Before the terrible news was relayed to Kim, her daughter Olivia saw the image of her sister’s body that had been posted online, and as a result, all of Bianca’s family saw the image of Bianca’s body before they were officially notified of her death.

Brandon escaped and was later arrested and charged with murder. Despite the events that led to the discovery of Bianca’s body, Brandon stated that he would enter a not guilty plea. The Defense was considering employing an Extreme Emotional Disturbance Defense.

Police had to figure out what happened after Bianca left her house on July 13th. They discovered that she travelled to New York with Brandon and met up with another friend named Alex there. Bianca and Alex kissed at the concert, and she texted Alex afterward to express her concern that Brandon saw them kissing. Bianca returned to Utica in Brandon’s car, but Brandon took a dead end street instead of Bianca’s house.

Bianca’s death, police believed, was the result of a planned attack rather than a random act. They discovered Brandon’s obsession with Bianca. Bianca had a strong online presence and spent a significant amount of time on social media. Bianca was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, according to Kim, and it affected her self-image. However, after seeking help and treatment, she appeared to be happy, and social media helped.

She enjoyed art and modelling and expressed herself online, on platforms ranging from mainstream to slightly darker, such as 4chan. Bianca had several male admirers. Brandon was one such admirer. Brandon stabbed Bianca in a fit of rage after seeing her kissing Alex, or did he intend to kill her regardless of what happened that night?

Alex told the police that it appeared that Brandon did not want him at the concert when they spoke with him. Alex did not accompany Brandon and Bianca to Utica. According to the police investigation, Brandon posted a dark picture of a road on social media while he was returning to Utica with the words:

“Here comes Hell. It is redemption, right?”

A video of Bianca’s murder was discovered by police. In order to record the assault, Brandon had set his phone on the dashboard of his vehicle. The video showed Bianca dozing off in the backseat of Brandon’s vehicle. He removed a knife from the car’s trunk and set it against the right side of the vehicle. In the video, Brandon can be seen rousing Bianca. She apologized but emphasized that they were not monogamous when he questioned her about the kiss she shared with Alex. He answered:

“well sorry is not enough.”

Brandon hit Bianca, and she threatened to get out of the car if he didn’t bring her home. Bianca had no idea Brandon had a knife hidden beside his seat at the time. He grabbed the knife and stabbed her to death. Brandon then pointed his phone’s camera at himself and shouted:

“Why did you make me do this, Bianca?”

He then took photos of Bianca’s body with his phone and shared them on social media.

While he appeared enraged that Bianca would not be in a committed relationship with him alone, supporting any Defense argument that he acted on the spur of the moment and did not intend to kill her, further investigation revealed that this was not the case.

Brandon was well-prepared for the concert. In the car, he had a knife, a razor, and other sharp instruments. Police discovered a “check list” of what he planned to do the day of the murder on his Notes app. Adding his date of birth to his Instagram account was on the list. He also intended to share a Fight Club quote on his Instagram account:

“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.”

This led them to believe that their suspicions were correct, and that he intended to kill Bianca for reasons other than seeing her kiss Alex. His search history revealed that he frequently searched Bianca’s name and looked at her social media platforms, saving multiple photos of her in the process.

Brandon also looked up a variety of terms on the internet, including:

“How do you choke someone?”
“How do you kill someone by striking the carotid artery?”

Brandon spray painted “May you never forget me” near where he murdered Bianca, and prosecutors discovered after googling it that it was taken from a series of Japanese comic books called Punpun, which were a collection of violent books. According to the police report, Brandon was also listening to music at the time Bianca was murdered.
The same song, “Test Drive” by Joji, was played repeatedly. The song is about someone who is more invested in a relationship than others.

Brandon’s trial was scheduled to begin in early 2020, but he changed his plea to guilty before it could begin. Brandon stated to the Court:

“I know that saying sorry isn’t enough; I know it won’t make what I did go away.”

Despite claiming that he wanted to spare Bianca’s family the agony of a trial and hearing all the details in Court, Brandon changed his plea just five months later. He wished to enter a not guilty plea instead, and the Court had to determine whether this was possible before he was sentenced. Brandon claimed that his lawyer pressed him into pleading guilty, but his lawyer testified and detailed the number of visits he made to the prison to speak with Brandon, as well as the fact that he had urged him to go to trial in the first place.

Brandon’s decision may have been influenced in part by the unexpected support he received from some members of the public known as incels. An incel, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is:

“a member of an online community of young men who believe they are unable to attract women sexually, typically associated with views hostile to women and sexually active men.”

Incels are people who haven’t had any sexual activity for a long time due to circumstances beyond their control, and as a result, some develop a dislike for women. They try, and frequently fail, to attract the attention of women known as Stacys, such as Bianca. Stacys are attractive women who incels believe are unattainable. Brandon was praised for standing up for incels despite the fact that he was not one. They dislike being rejected. Images of Bianca’s body continued to circulate online, and a number of people, known as trolls, blamed her for her own death. They assumed she was responsible because of her online activity and flirting with followers.

Judge Dwyer, the case’s judge, inquired about Brandon’s desire to withdraw his guilty plea:

“At first, it appeared that you were preoccupied with the family and the pain you caused them. And somewhere along the way, you began to focus on yourself. That was the source of everyone’s confusion. You were more concerned with yourself than with Bianca.”

Brandon was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after the Court determined that his guilty plea was valid. Brandon stated during the hearing:

“I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry for putting everyone through this. I’m truly sorry for putting Bianca through this. I wish I could apologize to her, just apologize and apologize and take it back, but.”

Bianca’s family is still fighting for justice. They are hoping for the passage of Bianca’s Law. It is a bill that would hold social media companies responsible for any violent or graphic content that is posted and remains on their platforms. It would make the dissemination of violent and graphic images a crime and require social media platforms to develop software to detect them before they are uploaded and shared. They would also need to set up a crisis department to respond to victims’ families in real time.

Bianca’s family has witnessed firsthand the horror and unimaginable distress that such posts cause at a time when they are already going through their darkest days. Bianca’s body photos were shared on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, 4chan, and Discord. Her mother, Kim, requested that the photos be removed from all social media platforms, but the process was lengthy, and some remained online for up to two weeks.