A volunteer firefighter is accused of publicly sharing photos of the scene where twin brothers from metro Atlanta were found dead atop a northeast Georgia mountain this month.
The bodies of 19-year-old Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis were found on Bell Mountain on the morning of March 8.
The firefighter, whose Facebook page says he works for the Towns County Fire Rescue Department, allegedly “took photos of the Lewis twins’ death scene and shared them publicly,” according to the GBI.
It’s unclear how widely the photos spread, but they reached a few Towns County High School students, who shared them in “a small private chat group,” Superintendent Darren Berrong told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Berrong said the district was unaware of how exactly the photo or photos made it to the students. The group chat was reported to administrators, who “did a quick investigation and took the appropriate steps to ensure that our students were no longer in possession of the photo,” he said.
The students were “unaware of the illegal nature of how the photo was distributed and were fully cooperative with the administration during the investigation,” he later added.
The firefighter does not face charges in connection with the twins’ deaths, only a misdemeanor charge of obstruction. The AJC is not identifying him because he is not charged with a felony.
Towns County attorney Robb Kiker Jr. said the firefighter was terminated Friday for “violation of policies and standards of the department.” A call to Towns fire Chief Harold Copeland went unanswered.
The case has drawn national attention after the twins' family pushed back on the GBI’s initial statement that the incident appeared to be a murder-suicide.
“My nephews wouldn’t do this!” wrote the twins’ aunt, Yasmine Brawner, in a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for their funerals. In a week, nearly $29,000 has been raised.
“They came from a family of love, and twins wanted so much for their future,” she added. “They had dreams of starting their very own clothing line.”
Brawner and other family members have not responded to the AJC’s multiple attempts for comment, and the Towns County Sheriff’s Office declined to provide an incident report.
The GBI said Sunday that the autopsies had been completed, but an official ruling on a cause of death is pending “additional forensic tests.”
It’s not clear what the brothers from Lawrenceville were doing on Bell Mountain or where exactly they were found, only that hikers located them around 11 a.m. that day and called 911.
The park, owned by Towns County, opens daily at 8 a.m. and closes at sunset. It is accessible by vehicle during operating hours. Sightseers can drive up the mountain to a flat parking area before climbing boardwalk stairs to an overlook that allows 360-degree views of Hiawassee and Lake Chatuge.
A gate on the road inhibits vehicular access during off hours, but there are no other access controls. The remote area is not staffed or supervised and has no access to electricity, so no cameras or other security measures are in place, Kiker said.
Officials have been tight-lipped. The GBI has not shared what caused the initial belief that the brothers died in a murder-suicide or if that opinion has changed.
“Unfortunately something happened at Bell Mountain that ended the lives of 19-year-old Qaadir and Naazir,“ Brawner wrote. It ”needs to be further investigated.”
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