Queer Teen Murdered Hours After Coming Out as Bisexual

On Saturday July 13, aspiring Instagram influencer Bianca Devins came out as bisexual as part of a Q&A with her followers. The next day she was murdered.

Devins, 17, met Brandon Andrew Clark, 21, on Instagram and the two started a romantic relationship. According to police reports, after attending a concert together in New York City on July 13, the pair returned to Utica, New York and broke into an argument, which ended with Clark murdering Bevins, partially decapitating her with a knife and calling 911 to confess to the crime. When police arrived on the scene, Clark stabbed himself in the neck with the same knife he's used to kill Bevins, laid down across her body and began taking photos of himself with her corpse.

Clark has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, but his crime didn't stop there. He also posted the photos he took with Bevins' body on Instagram, Discord, and 4chan, where they keep resurfacing despite efforts to have them taken down. Those photos have been seen by Bevins' family, including her stepmother Kaleigh Nicole, who posted an outraged and emotional response on Facebook.

"I have seen the pictures. I will FOREVER have those images in my mind when I think of her. When I close my eyes, those images haunt me," Nicole wrote. "Imagine sitting there, in disbelief and praying to God that this is all some mistake and that your baby will walk through the door any minute. Now imagine seeing those pictures and having everything in you break. Imagine not even being able to yell out and scream or cry because your soul has now just been broken."

In a statement, Devins' family described her as "a talented artist, a loving sister, daughter, and cousin, and a wonderful young girl, taken from us all too soon. She is now looking down on us, as she joins her cat, Belle, in heaven. Bianca's smile brightened our lives. She will always be remembered as our Princess."

RELATED | Transgender TV Presenter Slain in Honduras