A Worcester County grand jury indicted 29-year-old Donovan Foster on a murder charge in the death of 30-year-old Joanna Brown, whose body was found in her car after she was reported missing in early November 2025. Foster, currently in state prison for other vi
The case turned sharply last November and it stayed there—caught between what investigators could prove at the time and what a grand jury later decided could be charged as murder.
Joanna Brown. 30. of Worcester. was found dead inside her car the afternoon after she was reported missing by family members on Nov. 2, 2025. Police had last seen her alive on the morning of Oct. 31, 2025. On Feb. 2. 2026. the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner listed Brown’s cause and manner of death as undetermined and not resulting from injury. according to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. But the indictment now says the story was different—alleging that Donovan Foster assaulted and beat Brown “with intent to murder her” on or between Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.
Foster, 29, has been accused as Brown’s former romantic partner. Court records show he is charged with one count of murder. His arraignment is scheduled for July 17.
Foster is not new to the court system. The indictment describes a lengthy criminal history, and he is currently in state prison for a separate matter. Around the same time Brown died, he was charged in connection with a shooting that happened two months prior. That shooting allegedly followed a confrontation involving Foster, Brown, and a third woman whose apartment he allegedly shot at. The Telegram reported that Foster struck a parked car during the incident, but no one was injured.
Before that, Foster was sentenced to six to eight years in prison on a home invasion case. After he was released, he violated his post-release probation multiple times. He received a new sentence of three to four years and was transferred to state prison on June 4 after admitting to those violations. the Telegram reported.
Probation officials filed their notice of violation and said Foster’s whereabouts were unknown on Nov. 3—the same day Brown’s body was found. The reporting also describes Foster as being in jail since November. He has remained in custody while facing additional allegations from inside the prison system: a charge of assaulting a fellow inmate on Jan. 17.
In court, the dispute is likely to be about the gap between what the medical examiner initially classified and what the indictment now alleges about intent and causation.
Foster’s attorney, Joseph Hennessey, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday night. He told the Telegram that Foster “adamantly denies” the charge and that prosecutors have not told him the alleged manner of Brown’s homicide. The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office also did not respond to a request for comment about the specifics of Brown’s manner of death.
What remains clear is that the timeline has been fixed by dates—last seen Oct. 31, reported missing Nov. 2, found dead Nov. 3—and the charge has moved from an undetermined classification to a murder allegation tied to Foster during the hours in between. With Foster’s arraignment set for July 17. the next step will be whether the case can be proven beyond dispute in court. and what answers arrive now that the indictment has already committed the state to a specific narrative of intent.
Worcester Joanna Brown Donovan Foster indicted murder charge car death Worcester County grand jury arraignment July 17 Office of the Chief Medical Examiner