The teen was identified as Bianca Devins. (Utica Police)
Photos showing the corpse of a teenager allegedly killed by a man she'd met on Instagram continued to spread online on Tuesday amid efforts to curb their posting, according to reports.
Using the hashtag #yesjuliet, the gory pictures were redistributed widely, including by online posters making light of or celebrating the death of the teen, who had a small social media following in upstate New York.
Others urged people to stop circulating the images, seen on online chat sites including 4chan and Discord.
Discord users who saw the photos Sunday morning alerted police.
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Instagram spokeswoman Stephanie Otway told Fox News via email that her social media platform had blocked the hashtag #yesjuliet for attempting to spread the images.
But Rolling Stone reported that photos were still being circulated Tuesday, even via Twitter.
“On the Instagram side, we’re using technology that allows us to find other images that are visually similar to the original image posted and automatically remove them when people attempt to upload them,” Otway told Fox News. “When our teams become aware of other images from this incident on other social media sites, we are hashing them as a preventative measure to stop this content from being uploaded to Instagram.”
Utica police said they are working to address the sharing of the images with various Internet platforms.
Utica Police Lt. Bryan Coromato told Fox News via email Tuesday night, “We are working to stay in contact with all platforms where these photos are appearing to have them removed, hoping to keep the exposure to a minimum.”
Bianca Devins was killed, allegedly by a man she’d met recently on Instagram, who then posted photos of her corpse online, police said. (Instagram)
The teen was identified as Bianca Devins, Utica Police Sgt. Michael Curley said. He identified Brandon Clark, 21, as the suspect in her slaying.
Devins and Clark met on Instagram about two months ago, police said.
Initially, they were online acquaintances only, but the “relationship progressed into a personally intimate one,” police said. “They had spent time together, and were acquainted with each other’s families.”
Utica Police told Fox News they were continuing to examine the backgrounds of the pair and their relationship.
Police were also working to nail down the events of Saturday night through early Sunday.
The two, Devins and Carl, allegedly attended a concert together Saturday night in New York City and got into an argument. They arrived back in Utica early Sunday and went to a spot on a dead-end street, according to the police statement.
There, they argued until Clark used a large knife to kill the teenager, police said. Authorities began receiving calls around 7:20 a.m. Sunday, reporting that a man posted on a social media site that he'd killed someone.
The case is being investigated as a murder and attempted suicide, Coromato said.
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Clark was charged with second-degree murder Monday night, police said. It was unclear whether the suspect had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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