Georgia authorities have made an arrest following the tragic deaths of twin brothers Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis, whose bodies hikers discovered at the summit of Bell Mountain in Hiawassee, Georgia, earlier this month.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which confirmed last week that it was helping the Towns County Sheriff’s Office to investigate, said in a statement Tuesday that it had arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with the deaths.
“The GBI has arrested and charged Scott Kerlin, age 42, of Hiawassee, with misdemeanor obstruction. Kerlin is a volunteer firefighter in Towns County who took photos of the Lewis twins’ death scene and shared them publicly.”
The GBI did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for more information.
According to the GBI’s initial statement, at approximately 11:05 a.m. on March 8, “the Towns County 911 Center received notification that two people were found dead at the top of Bell Mountain,” identifying them as Qaadir and Naazir Lewis.
The brothers had booked a 7 a.m. flight to Boston for March 7, but missed it, NBC affiliate WXIA reported. They had never previously been to the location where their bodies were discovered, relatives said.
“We want answers, we want to know exactly what happened to the twins,” their aunt Samira Brawner told WXIA.
“How did they end up out in the mountains?” their uncle Rahin Brawner asked WXIA. “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?”
GoFundMe/ Yasmine Brawner
The GBI’s preliminary investigation treated the teens’ deaths as a murder-suicide, WXIA reported, but the family expressed skepticism.
“We knew right away that wasn’t true,” said their uncle, who described the brothers as “very protective of each other.”
“They’re like inseparable,” he added. “I couldn’t imagine them hurting each other because I’ve never seen them get into a fistfight before.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
