Lawrenceville, Georgia —
Qaadir and Naazir Lewis entered the world five minutes apart. The identical twins loved many of the same things: anime, the color red and the animated Disney classic, “The Princess and the Frog.” Where one went, the other followed.
Their relatives in suburban Atlanta nicknamed them the “ding-dong twins” because they moved as one. “They were so bound together … like ‘ding-dong, ding-dong,’” said one of their aunts, Sabriya Brawner, mimicking the chime of a doorbell.
The 19-year-olds had big plans for the future, including a cruise to celebrate their 20th birthdays and dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. So their family was stunned when the twins were found shot to death March 8 at the summit of remote Bell Mountain, about a two-hour drive north of Atlanta.
Investigators at the time said preliminary evidence suggested a murder-suicide — an outcome their family members refused to believe.
“The twins would not have harmed each other. They had a strong bond,” their aunt Yasmine Brawner said on Facebook in April. “Someone took their lives away.”But on Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a sobering new finding, based on autopsies and other evidence: The twins both died by suicide. Investigators said forensic evidence from the scene showed that both twins had fired a gun. In addition, their phones’ internet history showed searches related to suicide and how to load a gun.
The GBI declined to comment further. The brothers’ family members did not respond Thursday to CNN’s request for comment. But in a statement posted on Facebook, the family disputed the GBI’s conclusion.
“We still have questions regarding (their) investigative findings and feel like (their) final ruling was rushed and closed too soon,” said the statement on Yasmine Brawner’s page. The twins had plans for the future and did not own a weapon, the statement said.
In interviews before this week, the family told CNN the shocking deaths of Qaadir and Naazir have left them struggling to understand what happened. And the new GBI report still leaves many questions unanswered. especially this one: What would lead two ambitious, promising young men to take their own lives?But on Wednesday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released a sobering new finding, based on autopsies and other evidence: The twins both died by suicide. Investigators said forensic evidence from the scene showed that both twins had fired a gun. In addition, their phones’ internet history showed searches related to suicide and how to load a gun.
The GBI declined to comment further. The brothers’ family members did not respond Thursday to CNN’s request for comment. But in a statement posted on Facebook, the family disputed the GBI’s conclusion.
“We still have questions regarding (their) investigative findings and feel like (their) final ruling was rushed and closed too soon,” said the statement on Yasmine Brawner’s page. The twins had plans for the future and did not own a weapon, the statement said.
In interviews before this week, the family told CNN the shocking deaths of Qaadir and Naazir have left them struggling to understand what happened. And the new GBI report still leaves many questions unanswered. especially this one: What would lead two ambitious, promising young men to take their own lives?
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