No bail for Worcester man charged with murder in mysterious death of Joanna Brown

A Worcester man charged with murder in the mysterious death of Joanna Brown late last year was ordered held without bail Friday. Donovan Foster, 29, was handcuffed as he pleaded not guilty at his brief arraignment in Worcester Superior Court. Donovan Foster in Worcester Superior Court, July 17, 2026. CBS Boston Brown was a beloved employee at the Bean Counter Bakery Café in Worcester for eight years. She left work on Friday, October 31, 2025, and was never seen alive again. Her parents reported her missing on Sunday, November 2 after she did not show up for work. Joanna Brown Worcester Police Brown was found dead the next day in her rental car at the Green Hill Towers apartment complex on Mount Vernon Street in Worcester. She was 30 years old. The prosecutor said in court Friday she had been beaten to death. Investigators identified Foster, reportedly a former boyfriend, as a possible suspect. He was held on a gun charge on November 14. A Worcester County Grand Jury indicted him for murder in early June and he was formally arraigned Friday. He's due back in court on September 11. There's no word yet on a motive. No other information is available at this point in the investigation. Outside court, Brown's family told reporters they miss her and are grateful to police and the district attorney's office. "We miss her terribly. She's like the backbone of the business with the customers," Bean Counter Bakery Café owner Alice Lombardi told WBZ-TV back in November. Worcester, Massachusetts is 46 miles west of Boston.