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NBC bills The Contender as "the next great human drama," but the reality boxing series premiering next month already has more drama than it bargained for.

One of its 16 contestants, Najai "Nitro" Turpin, 23, committed suicide at 4 a.m. ET Monday. Turpin shot himself in the head while sitting with his girlfriend in a parked car outside the West Philadelphia gym where he trained, police told the Associated Press.

Investigators were unsure why Turpin took his life.

The latest from producer Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice), the series starts March 7 (8:30 p.m. ET/PT) and will run as planned.

The Contender completed taping last fall except for the finale, a live prize bout scheduled for May. Turpin was eliminated earlier in the competition, which pits two boxers in each episode and allows the winner to advance.

The episode that features Turpin will be dedicated to him and will solicit donations to a trust fund to benefit his family.

NBC promotional materials say Turpin was orphaned at 18 when his mother died. He cared for a younger brother, sister, niece and nephew while holding down jobs doing road work and cleaning seafood.

He also left a 2-year-old daughter along with his girlfriend, who appears in the show.

The show could get a ratings boost from viewers curious to glean signs of strife, potentially giving it a better chance of success than Fox's copycat The Next Great Champ, which premiered last fall and quickly failed.

Sugar Ray Leonard, the retired champion who co-hosts The Contender with Sylvester Stallone, says he was "devastated to hear the news."

"Najai was a very soft-spoken young man; everyone fell in love with him, with his personality, with his way of doing things," Leonard says. "He had a great deal of natural ability, and he was extremely confident."

Leonard says he saw no sign of inner turmoil and described the prime-time exposure as "an awesome opportunity" that would have boosted Turpin's career.

But Turpin's manager, Percy Custus, told the Philadelphia Daily News that among other troubles, Turpin was "frustrated" by a Contender contract that paid him $1,800 a week but prevented him from appearing in a boxing match until the series ends in May.

"His death comes as a shock to all of us," Burnett said in a statement. The episode that features his bout "will stand as a wonderful testament to who he was," but it "will not be changed."

Although The Contender initially was conceived as an outlet for inexperienced but promising fighters, Turpin, as did other contestants, already had an established record.

He turned pro in 2001 and fought mainly in his hometown of Philadelphia. His record before appearing in the show was 11-1, including eight knockouts.