KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Scripps News Group) — A pair of bodies found in a shed in 2023 may have been there for more than a year, new court documents reveal. Now, a suspect in the case has been arrested and charged.
Rajai Keyontae Brown was charged with two counts of open murder for the deaths of Tarra Mayes and Alfred Simpson, according to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.
Rajai Brown is charged with two counts of murder after bodies were found in a Michigan shed. (Court TV)
The couple’s bodies were found in a shed outside their former home on Rose Street near Farrel Park on August 22, 2023.
Evidence pointed to the bodies having been inside the shed for months, possibly more than a year, before the new property owner discovered the remains wrapped up near the back wall, according to investigators.
Both bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, per court records. Family and friends told detectives the couple had last been heard from on March 13, 2022. Their phone records showed the last recorded activity occurred around that date, according to court documents.
Investigators also discovered Brown had been living in the same home as Mayes and Simpson at the time they disappeared.
A person detectives spoke with during the investigation claimed Brown confessed to the murders in spring or summer of 2022. The witness said Brown claimed Mayes brandished a knife at him, but Brown was able to get a hold of the knife, using it on Mayes, according to court records. Brown’s also confessed he stabbed Simpson when he tried to intervene, per investigators.
Brown allegedly told the witness he left the bodies in the garage.
It was not clear in the court documents when detectives spoke with that witness.
The case remained unsolved for years. Kalamazoo public safety highlighted it as one of seven homicide investigations being actively pursued in 2025.
Detectives finally put together enough evidence to get charges filed against Brown on February 6 of this year. Officers arrested Brown on Wednesday, who was arraigned the same day.
“This arrest is the result of tireless dedication and unwavering focus by our detectives, who never lost sight of our obligation to the victim’s family to hold the offender accountable for his actions,” said Captain Danielle Guilds of the Criminal Investigations Division.
The public safety department is still requesting tips to be sent in on this case. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Public Safety’s Criminal Investigations Division at (269) 337-8139. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Silent Observer at (269) 343-2100.
Brown is set to be back in court in March.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Group of West Michigan.
