SAVANNAH, Ga. () – A Savannah teen was killed last week, and new details are emerging that may shed light on an event that some say could have set the stage for his death.

An unsanctioned boxing matchup was held steps away from 17-year-old Shinobi Pitts’ home five days before he was shot to death, and family members said they believe the two events are linked.

On Saturday Aug. 16, an event called “Guns Down, Gloves Up” took place at an apartment complex on Pennsylvania Avenue in Savannah, according to neighbors spoke to the day of Pitts’ memorial.

It was branded as an opportunity for kids in the Savannah area who may have grievances with one another to fight out their issues by boxing, instead of shooting each other.

“They were boxing. Someone was getting knocked out. They were basically picking their battles, ‘I’m going to fight this person, I’m going to fight that person’ type of thing,” a neighbor told .

A young man who claims to have organized the boxing event has made multiple social media posts about it since, showing uniformed Savannah Police Department (SPD) officers present several times throughout the day.

“There were a couple officers over there,” another neighbor said. “They were staying to the side, just making sure crowd control. They weren’t entertaining it or anything like that, just out there.”

confirmed with SPD that at least two patrol officers on the night shift stopped by to check on the situation and then left without making any arrests.

Five days later, Pitts was shot outside his home.

His mother said she believes the circumstances leading up to his death were directly tied to the event.

“He was actually going to school with the other child who shot my son. They actually had a fight back in 8th grade,” Pitts’ mother Sophy Garcia said. “My son so happened to be here with his friend, just viewing, watching, and that kid who he fought in eighth grade who shot my son was here, and nothing transpired then, but my son did tell me the kid, he saw him. My son did tell me the next day the kid had reached out to my son wanting to fight him.”

On the day Pitts was killed, his mother said he was waiting for the fight to happen.

“I would’ve least expected. It didn’t dawn on me. It honestly didn’t. Unfortunately, my son was out here waiting for him at the gazebo, and the car pulled up, from what witnesses are telling us,” Garcia said. “My son had no weapons on him…Witnesses said there was no words exchanged, and the kid just shot him.”

asked neighbors what they thought of the “Guns Down, Gloves Up” initiative.

“Look what it stemmed to. They could find other ways to settle things,” one neighbor said.

asked the neighbor to elaborate, and they said, “What we out here for tonight,” in reference to Pitts’ memorial.

One person, Zaki Lowe, has been arrested in connection to Pitts’ death and is being charged with murder and aggravated assault.

The SPD has not confirmed that a planned fight involving Lowe or Pitts is what led to the shooting death.

was not able to get the incident report for the Aug. 16 event because, according to SPD, it is part of an active homicide investigation.