GBI Investigates Deaths on Bell Mountain in Towns County

UPDATE - 5/21/2025:

The GBI has concluded the investigation into the deaths of Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis.  Based on the results of the medical examiner’s autopsy and other investigative findings, their deaths have been ruled suicide-suicide.  GBI agents have met with the Lewis family to share the findings.

Detailed below are some of the investigative findings:

• Cellular location data has established a timeline of their location from their home in Gwinnett County to Bell Mountain. In the video that corresponds to those locations, the Lewis brothers are seen alone.
• Only one brother (Naazir) went to the airport on March 7, 2025.  He never caught the flight and returned home.  Records show Naazir is the only person that had an airline ticket.
• Records show Naazir purchased ammunition used in the gun.  The ammunition was delivered to his home on March 5, 2025.
• Internet history from their phones showed searches for how to load a gun, suicide rates in 2024, and other related searches.
• Forensic evidence showed that the Lewis brothers fired a gun.

The comprehensive investigation indicates the injuries causing their deaths were self-inflicted.

The investigation will be formally closed in the coming weeks.  A copy of the closed investigative file can be obtained by visiting the GBI Records Request Center at https://gbi.georgia.gov.

UPDATE - 3/18/2025: 

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.

UPDATE: 

A GBI medical examiner has completed the autopsies, but the official ME ruling and results are pending additional forensic tests.

ORIGINAL RELEASE:

Hiawassee, Georgia (March 9, 2025)-The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting the Towns County Sheriff’s Office with a death investigation on Bell Mountain in Hiawassee, Georgia.  Hikers found two men dead at the top of Bell Mountain. The men were identified as twin brothers, Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis, both 19, of Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia.  

On Saturday, March 8, 2025, at about 11:05 a.m., the Towns County 911 Center received notification that two people were found dead at the top of Bell Mountain.  The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was requested by the Towns County Sheriff’s Office shortly after the discovery.  Both men were found with gunshot wounds.  The preliminary investigation reveals the deaths to be a murder suicide.  Autopsies are pending. The death investigation is active & ongoing.