The family of a teenager stabbed to death in 2019 is suing a New York prosecutor's office, saying it was wrong to share video taken by the killer with the media.
The estate of Bianca Devins sued Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara's office in federal court Thursday, the Observer-Dispatch of Utica reported. A lawyer for McNamara and the county said the complaint has no merit.
Devins, 17, was killed in July 2019 after coming back to Utica with Brandon Clark from a concert in New York City. Clark admitted cutting Devins' throat and posting photos of her body online afterward. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in March.
The lawsuit says McNamara and his office shared video Clark took of him having sex with Devins and then killing her with media outlets including the A&E network, the “48 Hours” CBS program and a blogger. The lawsuit called it an “unconscionable dissemination of snuff and child pornography of a 17-year-old murder victim.”
McNamara declined to comment. David Walsh, a lawyer for McNamara and the county, said officials in McNamara's office told him they followed the law for public records requests made by the media outlets.
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