REALLIFE
PICS: SOCIAL MEDIA
18
Murder
Images
Flood
WHYY are photos
taken moments after
the brutal murder of
a 17-year-old girl still
all over Instagram?
A
Tsomepointduringtheearly
morningofJuly14,a 17-year-
oldgirlwasbrutallymurdered.
ThatgirlwasBiancaDevins– a
YouTuberwhohada smallflockofyoung
followers.Thenextmorning,unimaginably
grislyphotosofBianca’smutilatedand
partiallydecapitatedbodystartedtogoviral
overpartsoftheinternet.Thephotoswere
uploaded,sharedandrepostedbyover6 000
accountholders.Bythatafternoontheyhad
garneredthousandsofviews,andthenumber
wasquicklyclimbing.It wasonlyuntildays
laterthatthephotoswere‘banned’from
somesocialmediaplatforms,althoughthey
arestilldoingtherounds.
WhileBianca’smurdersparkedanoutrage,it
alsoopenedPandora’sBox,bringingtolighta
disturbingandgrowingtrendonsocialmedia
oftheuploadingofphotostakenatcrime
scenes.Publicdeathshavealwaysbeenthe
attractionofunauthorisedphotographers,
suchascaraccidentsormurdersatwhich
bodieshavebeenleftoutintheopen.Inmost
cases,thephotosthathitsocialmediaare
takenbypassers-by.Thereis alsoa growing
concernoftheinvolvementoflocalfirst
responders,whoarecalledtothesceneand
responsibleforprotectingitsintegrityor
attendingtothevictim.Inthiscase,however,
it appearsthephotoswereblatantlyposted
bythemurdererhimself.Thephotoseven
includedselfiesofthekillerlyingacross
Bianca’sbody.
“Ourlivesarenowforeverchanged;ourhearts
arebroken,”saidBianca’smom,Kimberly,who
is notonlyreelingwithgriefoverlosingher
daughter,butdeeplytraumatisedbyhaving
seenherchild’sdeathphotosontheInternet.
“Biancahadrecentlygraduatedfromhigh
schoolandwasenrolledtostudypsychology
atuniversitynextyear.Shehadsaidbefore
thatherdreamwastohelpteenswithmental-
healthissues,assheherselfstruggledwith
depressionandanxiety.Whileshehada very
small circle of friends, was a talented artist and
Bianca’swasa burgeoningpresenceonInstagram,
and she was better known by the name ‘e-girl’TheDevinscasehas
sparkeda greatdeal
ofcontroversyonand
about social mediaBY VA N ESSA PA PAS