November 3, 2025 | By: Brennan Ambrose

This story is part of a collaborative project between Project: Cold Case and the University of North Florida’s Applied Journalism class.

Arnold Joyner, Jr. grew up in Miami, spending his younger years attending school, learning from his parents, Arnold and Martha, the values of life, and how to become an entrepreneur. He also helped elderly neighbors, played pickup basketball, and football. Arnold’s sister, Debbie, remembers how industrious he was, even when they were kids. Arnold carried his gift for putting things together for the rest of his life.

Arnold always had the biggest dinner plate at the Joyner family gatherings. He loved to eat. That’s how he earned the nickname “Big Boy.” His favorites were collard greens and his mom’s pound cake. He ate off a platter when everyone else ate from a plate. Family gatherings with the Joyner family haven’t been the same since Arnold was shot and killed outside of his Miami home on May 29, 2011.  Arnold was working on his truck when an unknown man wearing a hoodie approached him. After a brief exchange of words, the hooded man shot Arnold several times before fleeing. Arnold was 55 years old.

Most people close to Arnold remembered him as someone who would always help others. The most important thing to Arnold was his family. When his mother’s car was stalled on I-95 or his sister’s tire popped in South Dade, Arnold was there to fix their vehicles.  His family rarely took cars to the shop; he was always capable and willing to fix them. If there was a job he couldn’t do, he knew exactly where to go to get the job done.

Arnold had a deep connection with the Miami community, and he was more than just a handyman; he was loving and caring.  He loved children and cared deeply for his nieces and nephews, as demonstrated by his surprise gifts and playful antics with them. Arnold was their “Gentle Giant”, according to Debbie. Whenever she couldn’t withstand her children’s behavior, he would take them for walks in the neighborhood just to talk to them and would always say laughingly, upon their return, “You know, they get like that once a month” and wink to them.  When Arnold’s brother, Brian Joyner, needed suits for college, “He bought me five suits”. When an aunt or uncle felt lonely, Arnold would either drop by unexpectedly or call them to keep them company.

On May 29, 2011, Arnold was in front of his house in the 3100 block of Northwest 48th Terrace working on his truck. An unidentified man approached him, and after a brief exchange of words, the man pulled a gun and shot Arnold multiple times. A surveillance camera across the street captured the murder on video. Police believe that the gunman used a white Chevy Camaro as a getaway car. “[The murder] put me in emotional turmoil because he loved his children and family, kept to himself, respected his elders, he always helped anyone, and he was a hard worker,” said Debbie.

The Joyner family was shocked at the thought of Arnold being murdered. He was selfless and loving. The murder didn’t add up. Arnold’s other sister, Shawn, still looks at the picture of him on her nightstand whenever she wakes up. “He was taken away in a way that should’ve never happened,” said Shawn. Days after the murder, Arnold’s family members were still finding bits of bone and blood in the front lawn. The Joyner family believes arresting and sentencing Arnold’s murderer is the only way they can find something that resembles justice.

The family believes that the Miami-Dade police department didn’t try hard enough to find Arnold’s murderer.  In their opinion, the case went cold too quickly. They also complained of the long initial response time to Arnold’s murder.  Every time Brian sees another murder being broadcast on the news, he thinks of his brother’s body lying in an open casket. As hard as this is, Brian and the rest of the Joyner family cope with the grief of losing Arnold by praying to God.

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Anyone with information concerning Arnold Joyner Jr’s unsolved homicide is asked to call the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office at (305) 273-6800. To remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a reward, call Crime Stoppers of Miami Dade at (305) 471-8477.

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