Charles T. Joiner Jr. was shot to death outside this house on 155 Vinton St. on June 12.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

PROVIDENCE — On the last day of his life, Charles T. Joiner Jr. was showing pictures of his family and talking about his dreams to two new friends.

A smart and accomplished man, Joiner had recently moved to Providence from a village in Connecticut, leaving behind several of his seven brothers and sisters. He was starting a cleaning business in the city and was eager to make friends here.

The 27-year-old man, whom his siblings called by his middle name, Trevor, was known as the “family connector,” the one who held them all together after their parents died, a person who made friends easily.

So when one of his new friends said she felt uncomfortable walking into her new apartment alone that night, he naturally offered to escort her and the other woman.

His last act was to see them safely to the door.

It was just before 2:30 in the morning, on June 12, when Joiner pulled into the driveway and walked with the two women toward the apartment door at 155 Vinton St., less than a mile from Joiner’s Spruce Street home.

By day, this Federal Hill neighborhood of grand old houses, cozy restaurants and small businesses is busy with people. But in those early hours, the streets are often empty. A restaurant around the corner on Broadway had closed for the night, as had the gas station on the other side of Vinton and Broadway. A house party down Vinton Street was breaking up.

The narrow porch of the woman’s apartment building has a single bulb and faces a small alley and the wall of a neighboring house.

The woman who lived there was fumbling with a sticky door lock when they heard a man’s voice behind them, Detective Sgt. James Marsland said. They turned and saw a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt coming onto the porch and pointing a small handgun at them, Marsland said.

The police believe the man intended to rob them. Joiner and the women didn’t have time to react. The gunman fired one shot and ran.

Joiner and the women got into the apartment, where Joiner collapsed about 15 feet inside the doorway, Marsland said.

As Joiner lay dying, a small red car was seen fleeing down Vinton Street and inbound on Broadway.

More than two weeks later, the police are still searching for leads.

The police have tracked down all the people who had been at the nearby house party, but didn’t find any witnesses, Marsland said. Detectives have looked into tenants who previously lived in the woman’s apartment and questioned the women Joiner escorted home. They’ve looked for possible crime patterns. While there have been some street robberies, Marsland said, there haven’t been any armed robberies in the area. Nothing like this, he added.

The police are sure the gunman had gotten into that red car, with another man at the wheel, Marsland said. But the descriptions of the gunman and the getaway car are vague.

“We need somebody who saw anything to give us a call,” Marsland said Thursday. “Anything at all.”

So does Joiner’s family.

“I have a strong faith in God,” said one sister, Tara Joiner-Smith. “I know God is a just God, and justice will be served. … This was not supposed to happen at all.”

She and two other sisters, Angeline and Keisha, spoke by phone from their homes in Connecticut about their family’s devastation over Joiner’s senseless death.

“You hear about these things on the news,” said Angeline Joiner. “And then, this happens, and it’s our family. It doesn’t make any sense.”

They grew up in Plantsville, a village in Southington, Conn., with parents who encouraged them to work hard and get an education. Their mother died of an aneurysm 21 years ago, when the children were young, so each of the nine took on different roles to fill her absence. After their father died five years ago, also of an aneurysm, Charles Joiner became the family connector, the one who made sure the siblings got together.

“He had my father’s name. He really felt like he has to fill that role,” said Tara Joiner-Smith.

Joiner was recruited by INROADS, a nonprofit organization with offices in Connecticut that trains talented young minorities for professional careers in business and industry. He earned two degrees from Central Connecticut State University: a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology, specializing in environmental occupational safety, and a master’s degree in technology management. He was pursuing a second master’s degree in environmental management at the University of New Haven. He belonged to the National Society for Black Engineers, and his goal was to obtain his Ph.D. and become a college professor, said Tara Joiner-Smith.

He served on Plantville’s volunteer fire department, becoming its first minority firefighter, his sisters said. He also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and the Special Olympics. He had worked for different companies in Connecticut and Florida.

His faith was important to him, and he was baptized in the Faith Congregational Church, in Hartford, in November.

Joiner wrote in a journal about his plans for his life and his faith. A former girlfriend, with whom he stayed close, gave the journal to Joiner’s family after his death.

Angeline Joiner read her brother’s words aloud over the phone:

“Look at me,” Joiner wrote. “This is the life I choose. No others around to deter me. So focused, with one thing in mind, and that’s me and my loved ones. They’re few, but plenty for me. I appreciate all of the people that gave me guidance, support, and encouragement. I also thank God for everything. All of the lessons of life, many more to come, more struggles, and again, it will rain.

“But when it does,” he added, “I will persevere.”

After Joiner was laid off this spring from his job as supervisor of inspections at a BJ’s Wholesale Club in Florida, a coworker from a former job encouraged him to start a cleaning company in Rhode Island, his sisters said. He decided to go to Providence and form his own company, which was to emphasize environmental protection.

On March 25, when he was moving to Rhode Island, Joiner wrote in his journal: “I appreciate the time I have here on Earth. I also acknowledge that my time is limited. Therefore, I do not take any moment, any person, or any opportunity for granted. I simply take advantage of a situation and make the best of it.”

Two and a half months later, he died while seeing a woman safely to her door.

The Joiner family has set up a memorial fund that will be used to help others go to college: Charles T. Joiner Jr. Memorial Fund, c/o Bank of America, 22 Main St., Southington, Conn. 06489. Anyone with information about the homicide may contact detectives Lt. Bob Lepre or Sgt. James Marsland at (401) 243-6406.

amilkovi@projo.com