Photo: GoFundMe
An arrest has been made in the case of the twin brothers found shot dead on top of a Georgia mountain.
19-year-old brothers Qaadir and Naazir Lewis of Lawrenceville disappeared on March 7 after missing their 7 a.m. flight to Boston, according to family members. The twin siblings had reportedly planned the trip to visit friends but were found with gunshot wounds by a hiker on March 8 at the summit of Bell Mountain, 90 miles from their home.
It's unclear how the pair traveled to Bell Mountain.
On Tuesday (March 18), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced that firefighter Scott Kerlin, 42, is facing charges of misdemeanor obstruction in the twins' case, per PEOPLE.
"Kerlin is a volunteer firefighter in Towns County who took photos of the Lewis twins’ death scene and shared them publicly," the GBI said in a statement.
According to the agency, Kerlin was among the first responders who were granted access to the death scene earlier this month.
GBI previously said they were investigating the brothers' case as a murder-suicide, a move their family is rejecting.
Rahim Brawner, the twin's uncle, said the brothers were inseparable and wouldn't hurt each other.
“They’re very protective of each other. They love each other,” Brawner said. “I couldn’t imagine them hurting each other because I’ve never seen them get into a fistfight before.”
The brothers’ aunt, Yasmin, noted the teens had a "huge support system" amid the GBI's murder-suicide investigation.
“We know them. They wouldn’t do anything like this,” Yasmin said. “To say they did this to each other? No. Something happened in those mountains, and we want answers.”
The family also noted that the twins had never been to Bell Mountain and weren't known to hike. The brothers' plane tickets were allegedly still inside their wallets when they were found dead by the hiker.
The GBI is still awaiting forensic tests to rule on their official cause of death.
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