Soon after Bianca Devins was killed on Sunday morning, pictures of her bloodied body were circulating online.

Police found the 17-year-old Instagrammer's body by a car in Utica, New York, along with a seriously injured man, who police identified as 21-year-old Brandon Andrew Clark.

Mr Clark and Ms Devins, who went by the Instagram name @escty, had met on the social media platform about two months ago before meeting up in real life. They had even met each other's families.

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But early on Sunday local time, Mr Clark reportedly posted a photo of Ms Devins's dead body on his Instagram with the caption "I'm sorry Bianca". It is also believed he posted photos of the killing on gaming platform Discord.

Those who had seen Mr Clark's posts began to phone police, before Mr Clarke himself called 911 to report what he had done.

He has since been charged with second-degree murder.

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Instagram slammed for delayed response

The pictures of Ms Devins's lifeless and bloodied body were still up on Mr Clark's Instagram on Sunday night for the world to see.

His post was only veiled by a sensitive content filter, which blurs the post but also provides the option to tap through to see the image.

By Monday Instagram had removed Mr Clark's account and begun efforts to remove reposts of the image, but the delayed response prompted a wave of criticism against the platform

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As the story spread and #ripbianca began to trend on Twitter, people began to search for the photos online.

Several private Instagram accounts popped up telling users to request to follow the account and view the images via its Instagram story before Instagram removed the account.

Many urged others not to seek out the pictures or repost them.

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A spokesperson for Instagram — which is owned by Facebook — said their thoughts were with those affected by the "tragic event".

"We are taking every measure to remove this content from our platforms," the statement said.

But this is not the first time a Facebook-owned platform has failed to remove videos and images in a timely manner.

Earlier this year Facebook was heavily criticised for failing to remove graphic vision of the Christchurch shootings.

In response, the Australian Government passed laws threatening fines of up to 10 per cent of the platform's annual turnover if it failed to remove violent content "expeditiously".

Family remember their 'princess'

Bianca Devins had only graduated from high school in June. ( Supplied: Williams-Devins Family )

Ms Devins's family described her as a talented artist, loving sister, daughter, cousin and wonderful young girl.

"We are very grateful for the outpouring of love and sympathy we have received from our friends, family, Bianca's friends and the whole community," the family said in a statement. "Your prayers help to strengthen us through this difficult time."

"She is now looking down on us, as she joins her cat, Belle, in heaven.

"Bianca's smile brightened our lives. She will always be remembered as our princess."

Ms Devins had graduated from high school in June and was preparing to attend a community college later this year.