As if the tragedy of the Lewis twins wasn’t already sad, horrific, and infuriating enough, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s preliminary investigation determined that their deaths were the result of a murder-suicide, something their family denies. Adding to the outrage, authorities have arrested a man for allegedly taking and publicly sharing a crime scene photo related to their case.
According to 11 Alive, 42-year-old Scott Kerlin, a volunteer firefighter in Towns County and a resident of Hiawassee, was arrested Monday night and charged with misdemeanor obstruction for allegedly sharing the illegal photo with school students in Towns County. At this point, it’s unclear how Kerlin allegedly got the photo and how he allegedly shared it.
“Towns County Schools was made aware that a crime scene photo had been shared with some of our students on Monday,” Towns County Schools Superintendent Darren Berrong said in a statement. “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. The students involved were unaware of the illegal nature of how the photo was distributed and were fully cooperative with the administration during the investigation. Due to FERPA regulations, we are unable to comment on specific student discipline matters.”
Suffice it to say, the twins’ family members—who have rejected the GBI’s initial theory that they died by murder-suicide— are understandably furious about it.
From 11 Alive:
“It’s scary. I’m literally scared to go on social media. I’m scared to pick up my phone because I know if I see that picture, I already know I’ll have a heart attack,” Samira Brawner, the twins’ aunt, said.
Yasmine Brawner, another aunt of the twins, said, “Just imagine if their mother sees that—like, that would really destroy her. She’s already going through a lot.”
Sabria Brawner, another aunt to the twins, condemned the violation of privacy. “It’s very disrespectful to this family. I feel like our privacy was invaded.”
The twins’ uncle Rahim Brawner, who has been a first responder for more than 10 years, pointed out, “We know that’s one of the number one rules is not to take pictures and share them.”
Indeed, the family of Qaadir Malik and Naazir Rahim Lewis are going through enough right now; the last thing they need is some thoughtless, heartless, unempathetic fool treating their deaths like entertainment fodder to be shared like memes on the internet. They’re still fighting to find out exactly what happened to the twins, who were supposed to be on a flight to Boston at the time they were found dead on a remote mountain in Georgia. Having the twins’ deaths mocked in this way is salt in a wound that is still fresh.
People should be better than this.
