Cab drivers Francisco Guerrero and Elmanual Tejada tape a sign to the side of Tejada’s cab in memory of Jose Rodriguez, who was fatally shot in Central Falls after he picked up three men in Providence. At top, the cab drivers line up in a procession.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

They started at 13 Spruce St. in Providence. Thirty cabbies from taxicab companies in Providence lined up on the street.

The address is where Jose Rodriguez, a cab driver for Gonzalez Cab of Providence, picked up three men who said they needed a ride.

The cab drivers proceeded through the downtown, as if in a funeral procession, and got on Route 95 north toward Central Falls.

In Central Falls, cabs from Gonzalez Cab, Metro Taxi, Express Taxi, Dominican Taxi, New England Taxi and other companies lined both sides of Fuller Street.

That is where Rodriguez, a father of two, was shot on his 42nd birthday exactly one year ago yesterday. He died the next day.

The cab drivers held a vigil for Rodriguez on the first anniversary of his death and to question why the murder had not been solved. The next stop was the Central Falls Police Department.

Angie Gonzalez, a dispatcher with Gonzalez Cab, which is co-owned by her aunt Evelyn Gonzalez, said that the vigil is particularly poignant because the murder remains unsolved.

“There hasn’t been justice. They haven’t caught anybody. How many more family men have to die?” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the anniversary is even more painful because Jose’s wife, Ana Rosario Rodriguez, and their two children were in a terrible crash on Route 495 in Hopkinton, Mass., on June 9 that has left Ana, 37, in a coma. The Massachusetts state police say Rodriguez, who was driving with another woman, her two children and another child, lost control of her van, hit another car and rolled over several times. One child was ejected from the vehicle. Rodriguez and Alida Cruz Valdez, 65, and her son Jose Antonio, 7, were taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester and the two girls were taken to Milford Hospital.

“This is ridiculous. His kids need him so much,” Gonzalez said.

A taxi driver for Gonzalez Cab who calls himself Kiko but declined to give his last name, said he had visited Ana Rosario Rodriguez at UMass Medical Center two weeks ago and that she was in a coma. He said he kept in touch with Ana and that she had eked out a living by running a daycare out of her home in Providence. He said the children are staying with family.

Ana’s family could not be reached for comment.

On Fuller Street, the cab drivers went from their cabs into the heat of the midday sun. They all had posters taped to their cabs written in English and Spanish. “It has been a year since Jose was brutally murdered and he has received no justice. How many more fathers must die?” read one poster. “Any information given to Central Falls police will be appreciated,” read another.

The cab drivers talked about Jose and the dangers of being a cab driver.

“Jose’s death has affected all of us so much,” said one cab driver. “Today it is him, tomorrow it could be one of us.”

That is why it is important for cab drivers to have a partition in their cabs with a bulletproof window above the seats that protects cab drivers, the man said. “I know it’s $200 for the partition, but think of the suffering our families would go through.”

Carlos Villalona, 38, a Gonzalez Cab driver, says that cab drivers are wary of people and won’t get out of their cars if the people don’t come out of their house. They get phone numbers so they can call to verify who it is. Still it didn’t help when he answered a call to Seabury Street in Providence. Three young men came out and one of them approached him and shot at him though his driver’s window. The bullet grazed his thigh, he said. One of the young men was arrested, he said.

From Fuller Street, the cab drivers drove to the Central Falls police station on Illinois Street and circled about five times to let officers know they still wanted justice for Jose Rodriguez and his family and then they left.

Chief Joseph Moran of the Central Falls police said afterward that the police are still working on the slaying but do not have any suspects. His department is working with Providence police and agencies he declined to name. Solving the case has been difficult because no one has come forward with vital information. “I know someone saw something,” he said. A $4,000 reward was donated anonymously for the person who gives information that leads to the arrest of Jose’s killer.

Moran said that he and two captains visited Ana Rosario Rodriguez about five months ago to give her an update on the case. “It is a tragic incident,” he said. “It still sits on my desk.”

tpina@projo.com