Twin brothers found dead in Georgia mountains; family rejects murder-suicide assumption

USA Today

19-03-2025

Twin brothers found dead in Georgia mountains; family rejects murder-suicide assumption
The deaths of twin brothers found with gunshot wounds at the top of Georgia's Bell Mountain was assumed to be a "murder suicide" in a preliminary investigation, authorities said. However, family members are telling multiple outlets they don't believe that is the case.
The bodies of the two brothers, identified as Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis, both 19 of Lawrenceville, Georgia, were found on the morning of March 8 shortly after 11 a.m. by hikers, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a March 9 news release. GBI said the agency was called in by the Towns County Sheriff's Office "shortly after the discovery."
"Both men were found with gunshot wounds," GBI said in the news release, noting a preliminary investigation determined the "deaths to be a murder suicide." However, officials were still investigating, authorities said.
GBI, in an update Sunday, said the autopsies of the bodies were completed but the "official ME ruling and results are pending additional forensic tests."
Family rejects murder-suicide assumption
While authorities have not revealed further information on the deaths, the family of the brothers have rejected the assumption that the incident was a murder-suicide.
'They're very protective of each other. They love each other,' their uncle Rahim Brawner told NBC-affiliate KSDK. 'They're like inseparable. I couldn't imagine them hurting each other because I've never seen them get into a fistfight before.'
The twins' family told the media outlet they thought the twins were visiting friends in Boston at the time, adding the brothers had booked a flight to Boston for 7 a.m. on the Friday before but never made the flight. Less than 24 hours later, the two were found dead in an area they had reportedly never visited before with their plane tickets in their wallets.
'How did they end up out in the mountains? They don't hike out there, they've never been out there,' Brawner said to KSDK. 'They don't know anything about Hiawassee, Georgia. They never even heard of Bell Mountain, so how did they end up right there?'
No new updates on twin brothers' deaths
Located near the North Carolina border, Bell Mountain is about a two- and half-hour drive from Atlanta. The boys' hometown, Lawrenceville, a suburb of Atlanta, is located approximately 30 miles northeast of downtown.
It is not immediately clear how the two brothers ended up on the mountain and why they were there.
GBI, in an email to USA TODAY Monday, said the agency had no new updates to report and that an investigation is ongoing. The Towns County Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for more information on the case.
"To say they did this to each other? No. Something happened in those mountains, and we want answers," the duo's aunt Yasmine Brawner told KSDK.
Twins came from a 'family of love,' says aunt
Brawner has set up a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses for the brothers with a goal of $20,000. The account had collected more than $23,000 as of Monday morning.
In the account's description, she once again refuted the idea that "they took their own lives," saying, "my nephews wouldn't do this!"
"They came from a family of love, and twins wanted so much for their future, they had dreams of starting their very own clothing line," she wrote. "Unfortunately, something happened at Bell Mountain that ended the lives of 19-year-old Qaadir and Naazir, which needs to be further investigated."
USA TODAY has reached out to Brawner.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [e-mail] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.