Deaths of twin brothers found on Georgia mountain ruled double suicide
The deaths of two 19-year-old twins found fatally shot at the top of a north Georgia mountain in March have been ruled a double suicide, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced on Wednesday.
Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis were found in Hiawassee, Georgia, at the summit of Bell Mountain on March 8. The twins from Lawrenceville — about 90 miles south of where their bodies were found — had plans to visit their friends in Boston the morning of March 7.
Only Naazir went to the airport the day before their deaths, the GBI investigation found, and he was the only person who had an airline ticket. Naazir did not board the flight and returned home.
GBI said investigators used cellular location data to establish a timeline of the twins' movements from their home to Bell Mountain.
"In the video that corresponds to those locations, the Lewis brothers are seen alone," the release stated.
The family previously told NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta that they were unsure how or why the twins were at Bell Mountain, a spot popular with tourists not far from the North Carolina border. The brothers had no clear connection to the place, their family said.
Forensic evidence showed the Lewis brothers fired a gun, according to the GBI. Records show Naazir purchased ammunition and delivered it to his home on March 5.
The brothers also made internet searches for how to load a gun, 2024 suicide rates, and other related searches, the agency stated.
GBI said the investigation will be formally closed in the coming weeks.
Investigators originally thought the twins' deaths could be a murder-suicide, a theory their family rejected.
NBC could not immediately reach the Lewis family.
"They're very protective of each other. They love each other," Rahim Brawner, an uncle, previously told NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta. "They're, like, inseparable. I couldn't imagine them hurting each other, because I've never seen them get into a fistfight before."
The family organized a GoFundMe page for the twins, stating they were looking to hire a private investigator specializing in homicide to look into the brothers' deaths.
"We know them. They wouldn't do anything like this," their aunt Yasmine Brawner, who co-organized the crowdfunding campaign, told WXIA in March. "To say they did this to each other? No. Something happened in those mountains, and we want answers.'
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