Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders - Who was Bianca Devins?

The coldblooded murder of Utica's Bianca Devins brought the online community to a standstill in 2019. The 17-year-old who graduated from Thomas R. Proctor High School was stabbed to death by Brandon Clark. Clark had uploaded a detailed visual documentation of the murder on his Instagram, which led to an online outrage.

Bianca Devins battled with her mental health and used her social media presence to channel positive energy and post her art. At the time of her death, HuffPost reported her to have around 2,000 followers.

The Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders episode titled RIP Bianca brings the story of Bianca Devins to viewers as it airs on June 17, 2024, at 9 pm EST on Investigation Discovery. The official synopsis reads:

"Anime-obsessed teenager Bianca becomes an inspiring mental health advocate online - and changes lives. But on forums and social media accounts, she discovers a horrifying and violent underbelly: young men primed to threaten, harm, and attack."

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Who was Bianca Devins? Details explored

Bianca Michelle Devins was born on October 2, 2001, to parents Michael and Kimberly Williams Devins in New Hartford, New York. Bianca was a student at Thomas R. Proctor High School and graduated on June 28, 2019, intending to carry on her education while studying psychology at Mohawk Valley Community College.

Bianca was a Catholic and a member of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. She loved animals, especially her cats, and aspired to become a model. She could play the ukulele and was also good at art, which she put up on her social media.

According to HuffPost, Bianca Devisn battled with her mental health as she was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and borderline personality disorder. Bianca had a good online presence on Instagram of 2,000 followers and used the space to share positivity. According to HuffPost, her mother, Kim Devins, shared:

“That’s where Bianca felt most comfortable, on the internet. [In real life,] she never felt like she fit in.”

Bianca Devins had been in and out of medical care and hospitalization receiving treatment for her mental health.

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How were Bianca Devins and Brandon Clark acquainted?

According to a Rolling Stone report, Bianca Devins (17) and Brandon Clark (21) met one another through Instagram and continued to remain friends for a few months leading up to Bianca's graduation.

Kim Devins shared with HuffPost that she thought of Clark to be polite and unthreatening but also made it clear that they were in a friends-with-benefits setup. Kim reportedly shared:

“She wasn’t at a point in her life where she wanted to be tied down to anything. She had been honest with him about her feelings, and she thought it was fine."

Kim's friend and roommate, Cody Meulengracht, mentioned witnessing Brandon introduce himself as Bianca's boyfriend at her graduation party. Bianca had allegedly taken care to correct him every time he did so, which seemed to bother him.

However, multiple reports and individuals speculated their relationship to be more than friends based on the video and photo evidence that was circulated following her murder on July 14, 2019. The speculation came in light of the evidence of a s*x tape that was filmed between the two before her stabbing death.

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Watch the new episode of Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders as it airs on Investigation Discovery on Monday.