Fireman shared photos of twins found dead on mountain, Georgia cops say. He’s charged
A volunteer fireman is accused of taking and sharing crime scene photos of twin brothers found dead on a Georgia mountain, according to state investigators.
Scott Kerlin, 42, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor obstruction, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a March 18 news release. Authorities said Kerlin is a volunteer firefighter in Towns County, near the Georgia-North Carolina line.
The charges come more than a week after hikers found the bodies of Qaadir Malik Lewis, 19, and Naazir Rahim Lewis, 19, at the top of Bell Mountain in Hiawassee. Both had been shot, investigators said.
The GBI suggested the brothers died in a possible murder-suicide, but the medical examiner’s final ruling is pending “additional forensic tests,” the bureau said in an update March 18.
Authorities didn’t say how Kerlin shared photos from the twins’ death scene.
McClatchy News reached out to the GBI for more information March 19 and was awaiting a response.
In a statement, Towns County Schools Superintendent Darren Berrong said at least one of the pictures was circulated among students, WXIA reported.
“Towns County Schools was made aware that a crime scene photo had been shared with some of our students on Monday,” Berrong told the station. “In collaboration with local law enforcement, our administration promptly initiated an investigation and took appropriate measures to ensure the photo was no longer in the possession of any students.”
‘My nephews wouldn’t do this!’
The twins’ family is searching for answers and has rejected the GBI’s initial statement that their deaths were a murder-suicide.
Relatives said the brothers, from Gwinnett County, were scheduled to visit friends in Boston but missed their flight, WXIA reported.
Their bodies were found nearly 90 miles from Lawrenceville, where they lived.
“I can’t imagine them hurting each other because I’ve never even seen them get into a fist fight before,” the twins’ uncle, Rahim Brawner, told WSB-TV. “Murder-suicide? I just believe that they were extremely incapable of that.”
“My nephews wouldn’t do this!” Yasmine Brawner, who identified herself as the brothers’ aunt, wrote on a GoFundMe page started for the family.
“They came from a family of love, and twins wanted so much for their future,” she said. “Unfortunately, Something happened at Bell mountain that ended the lives of 19 year old Qaadir and Naazir, which needs to be further investigated.”
Hiawassee is about a 110-mile drive northeast from downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Fireman shared photos of twins found dead on mountain, Georgia cops say. He’s charged."