Officials declare suicide as cause of death for Georgia twins found on mountain

Officials have concluded their investigation into the deaths of 19-year-old twins Qaadir and Naazir Lewis, who were found dead at the top of a Georgia mountain.

Georgia twins cause of death

On Wednesday, May 21, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced that they’d ruled that the twins died by suicide. The announcement is a shift from the agency’s preliminary findings in which they said the cause might be murder-suicide, NBC reported.

“The comprehensive investigation indicates the injuries causing their deaths were self-inflicted,” the agency said.

When Qaadir and Naazir’s bodies were found by hikers at the top of Bell Mountain in Hiawassee, Ga., on March 8, family members said they didn’t believe that the young men would harm themselves or each other, according to reports.

GoFundMe

The Lewis family has pushed back against the GBI’s findings. Since the deaths, people from across the nation have donated to a GoFundMe in support of Qaadir and Naazir’s family; raising more than $64,000.

“My nephews wouldn’t do this!” the twins’ aunt, Yasmine Brawner, wrote in a GoFundMe page she organized in hopes of hiring an investigator to help with the case.

“[They] wanted so much for their future, they had dreams of starting their very own clothing line,” she added.

Investigation: Georgia twins cause of death

On March 7, the day before the siblings were found dead, Naazir was scheduled to fly to Boston to visit friends, according to CNN. Officials said that he went to the airport but never boarded the plane. Instead, he returned to his home in Lawrenceville, Ga.

It is unclear why Naazir and Qaadir traveled from their hometown to the mountain in Hiawassee, almost 90 miles away. Cellular location data helped investigators establish a timeline from the siblings’ home to Bell Mountain. Surveillance footage was released, which showed the twins entering a Shell Gas station in Lawrenceville, Ga., about 12 hours before their bodies were discovered.

During their investigation, other evidence showed Naazir purchased ammunition used in the gun. The ammunition was delivered to his home on March 5, 2025.

Internet history from the their phones “showed searches for how to load a gun, suicide rates in 2024”, and other related searches. Lastly, forensic evidence showed that the Lewis brothers fired a gun.

Family remembers beloved Georgia twins

For the twin brothers’ family, there are still endless questions, hurt and pain.

GoFundMe

“For a lot of our family, it’s too much,” a family member told CNN. “They are extremely traumatized.”

The twins’ older sister, Kai’ree Powell, remembered her last day with them. On March 6, the three siblings watched a sitcom at her home in Atlanta and talked about life.

“They asked me … ‘If you didn’t have any anxiety and fears, what would you do?’ And I told them that I would want to dance because I’ve always wanted to be a dancer,” Powell told CNN. “And they said, ‘You should do that. I really hope that you do that.’ ”

“That was the last thing they said to me,” she added.