The family of twin Georgia brothers, Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis, 19, do not believe the two died of murder-suicide, as authorities say.
The brothers, from Gwinnett County, Georgia, were found dead at the top of Bell Mountain by hikers on March 8, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a media release.
“Both men were found with gunshot wounds,” the statement said. “The preliminary investigation reveals the deaths to be a murder suicide.”
A Sunday update said, “A GBI medical examiner has completed the autopsies, but the official ME ruling and results are pending additional forensic tests.” The agency is assisting the Towns County Sheriff’s Office with the investigation.
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“My nephews wouldn’t do this,” their aunt, Yasmine Brawner, said on a GoFundMe page to assist the family with memorial expenses. “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 added, “Something happened at Bell mountain,” calling for further investigation.
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The twins were scheduled to fly to Boston on March 7 to visit friends, but they never made their flight out of Atlanta, family members told local FOX 5. The TV station reported the teenagers still had their airline tickets in their wallets when they were found dead.
The family added that the boys had never visited the area where they were found, which is about a two-hour drive from where they lived in Lawrenceville.
“They’re very protective of each other. They love each other,” their uncle, Rahim Brawner told WXIA-TV. “They’re like inseparable. I couldn’t imagine them hurting each other because I’ve never seen them get into a fistfight before.”
“How did they end up out in the mountains?” Brawner questioned. “They don’t hike out there, they’ve never been out there. They don’t know anything about Hiawassee, Georgia. They never even heard of Bell Mountain, so how did they end up right there?”