SAVANNAH, Ga. () – The Savannah community turned grief into a call for change Tuesday night, gathering to remember two teenagers killed in separate shootings last week.

Over a hundred people showed up to honor the memory of 17-year-old Shinobi Pitts and 16-year-old Alexis Milton Jr.

“I’m trying to stay strong, I’m trying, but I would never, never wish this on my worst enemy who broke me down to my core. I would never, never imagine this. Never,” Shinobi Pitts’ sister Jade Garcia said.

Pitts was shot Thursday near a gazebo, steps away from his home on Pennsylvania Avenue.

“He did not deserve what happened to him at all,” one of Pitts’ classmates said, fighting back tears as she lit a candle in his honor.

Milton Jr. was shot on LaRoche Avenue just one day later.

“We are going to miss him, and I’m going to say we are praying that the will of God be done in this situation and that justice will be prevail and that those who did this will be held accountable,” Milton Jr.’s pastor Errol Roach said. “In the name of the Lord, let the judges, the District Attorney, all attorneys and detectives find out the perpetrator.”

Neighbors, classmates and community advocates sent a message loud and clear at Tuesday’s vigil: enough is enough.

“People continue to elect people, and crime is just running rampant. I’m going to be very vocal. I don’t care what color you are,” Savannah District 3 Alderwoman Linda Wilder Bryan said in reference to Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Jones. “We want the crime and the time to be the same. We want her to stop hitting people on the hand and letting them out to re-offend and re-kill.”

One person, 17-year-old Zaki Lowe, has been arrested in connection with Pitts’ shooting death. He’s charged with murder and aggravated assault.
“Am I mad at the person that killed my son?” Shinobi Pitts’ mother Sophy Garcia said. “I’m not mad at him. He just broke my heart. He broke my heart, and that’s what he needs to know. He destroyed my family.”

Both shootings are still under investigation by the Savannah Police Department.