WORCESTER, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- A Worcester man has been indicted on one count of murder in connection with the death of 30-year-old Joanna Brown, whose body was found in a parking lot near Mount Vernon Street on November 3, 2025.

Donovan Foster, 29, was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court Friday and is being held without bail. Foster had previously been arraigned on firearm charges, including carrying a loaded firearm without a license.

Brown was reported missing by her family after she was last seen the weekend before her body was discovered at Bean Counter, the coffee shop where she worked. Her body was later found inside her Mitsubishi Outlander in a parking lot at Green Hill Towers.

Worcester Police said Brown had never gone missing before and had never cut off contact with her family without warning. “She told her supervisor that she needed to leave for some personal reasons. Her manager asked if she needed Saturday off as well and Joanna said no that she should be back for Saturday, but she did not report to work on Saturday,” said Sgt. Elise Miranda of the Worcester Police Department.

When the grand jury returned the indictment, Foster’s defense attorney Joseph Hennessey issued a statement. “The Commonwealth has a fundamental burden to prove every element of this charge beyond a reasonable doubt, including how and why this death occurred. The fact that there is no established cause of death on the death certificate reveals a significant hole in their case,” he said.

Brown’s mother, Elizabeth Kane, declined to go on-camera following court proceedings but previously issued a statement about her daughter. “Joanna was a talented, kind, young woman who is loved and missed every day,” she said.

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