Brandon Clark, the man accused in the murder of Utica teen Bianca Devins, pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder in Oneida County Court Monday morning. Clark, 22 from Cicero, admitted to killing Devins, 17, from Utica, cutting her with a knife in his SUV early on a Sunday morning last summer. After committing the crime, Clark posed Devins in the vehicle, took photos and posted several on social media. Those photos remained available on line for several hours after the murder had been reported and requests were made to remove them from public view.

Clark told Oneida County Judge Michael Dwyer that he was making the plea because he did not want to put Devin’s family through the experience of seeing the evidence in the case. Clark will be sentenced to 25 years to live in state prison. Sentencing will take place on April 6, 2020.

Clark was arrested July 14, 2019 when Utica Police found him at the dead end of Poe Street in East Utica. This was after Clark had called 911 to report a murder-suicide. An Oneida County emergency service operator testified at pre-trial hearings that Clark told her that he couldn’t stay on the phone because he had to take care of the suicide part of the reason for his call. That call is what brought police to Poe Street. 

Testimony at pre-trial hearings from Utica Police told the story that Clark was observed laying on the tarp that covered the body of Bianca Devins. Police said that they observed Clark stabbing himself in the neck. Police got the weapon away from him and took him into custody.

The accusation is that Clark and Devins had been in a relationship for a few months. He was 21 at the time and she was 17. On Saturday, July 13th, Clark and Devins went to a concert in Queens. While at the show, Bianca met up with another male. Whatever happened between Clark and Devins on the return trip to Utica, only Clark could say.