A volunteer firefighter in Georgia faces a criminal charge after police say he took photos of two dead teenagers and shared them publicly, as police reveal their preliminary findings on how the brothers died.
Scott Kerlin, age 42, was charged with misdemeanor obstruction following an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Kerlin was apparently among the first responders after hikers found the bodies of 19-year-old twins Qaadir Malik Lewis and Naazir Rahim Lewis.
11-Alive reported that the images taken by Kerlin were being shared on social media. School officials confirmed to the station that the images had been shared among students.
"It's scary," a family member told 11-Alive. "I'm literally scared to go on social media. I'm scared to pick up my phone...because I know that if I see that picture I might have a heart attack."
The twins were found March 8. Each had gunshot wounds, but the Medical Examiner has not yet released a cause of death. However, Investigators believe the deaths to be a murder-suicide based on a preliminary investigation. The family has strongly disagreed with this conclusion.
"In recent new reports, it was claimed that they took their own lives. My nephews wouldn't do this! They came from a family of love, and twins wanted so much for their future, they had dreams of starting their very own clothing line," stated Yasmine Brawner on a GoFundMe page she established for the family.
The family has previously pointed out on social media that the twins were supposed to catch a flight to Boston at 7 a.m. on March 7, the day before they were found dead on Bell Mountain. The mountain is located about 90 miles from where the twins lived, and the family has said they had no connection to it.
