A family is calling for answers after 19-year-old twin brothers were found shot to death on a mountain a day after they missed a flight.
Qaadir and Naazir Lewis were found dead aged 19. Credit: GoFundMe
Qaadir and Naazir Lewis, 19, who were from Lawrenceville, Georgia, went missing on March 7 after failing to board a flight they were due to take to Boston to visit friends.
The twin brothers’ bodies were discovered the following day by a hiker, who came across the grisly scene at the summit of Bell Mountain, near the North Carolina border.
Authorities have speculated that the pair, who’d died from being shot, may have passed away in a murder-suicide.
However, their grieving family does not believe this theory, which is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, as they say the pair were inseparable and would never have hurt one another.
Their uncle, Rahim Brawner, told WXIA-TV on Friday: “They’re very protective of each other. They love each other.
“I couldn’t imagine them hurting each other because I’ve never seen them get into a fistfight before.”
The twins’ aunt, Yasmin Brawner, said that the pair had a “huge support system” who they knew they could have turned to for help if they had any trouble or thoughts of taking their own lives.
She believes that something else may have happened to cause Qaadir and Naazir’s untimely deaths, telling the outlet: “We know them. They wouldn’t do anything like this.
“To say they did this to each other? No. Something happened in those mountains, and we want answers.”
She has also since started a GoFundMe to pay for the teens’ funeral expenses, which has raised over $22,000 of its $20,000 target.
In the fundraiser, she added: “In recents new reports, it was claimed that they took their own lives. 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.
“Unfortunately Something happened at Bell mountain that ended the lives of 19 year old Qaadir and Naazir, which needs to be further investigated.”
Family members described the twins as ‘inseparable’. Credit: GoFundMe
The family adds that they have yet to get any answers on how Qaadir and Naazir had traveled from the airport to Bell Mountain, as the twins had reportedly never been there before and are not known to hike.
They add that the pair were also found with gunshot wounds on both of their bodies and their plane tickets still inside their wallets.
Their aunt, Samira Brawner, added: “We want answers, we want to know exactly what happened to the twins.
“How did they end up out in the mountains? They don’t hike out there, they’ve never been out there.
“They don’t know anything about Hiawassee, Georgia, … So how did they end up right there?”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations confirmed that autopsies have been completed for both men, but added that officials are still waiting on the results of additional forensic tests before a final ruling is made on their official cause of death.
Our thoughts remain with Qaadir and Naazir’s loved ones at this heartbreaking time.
