Inset, left to right: Alfred Simpson, Tarra Mayes, and Rajai Keyontae Brown (Kalamazoo (Mich.) Department of Public Safety). Background: Authorities at the home where the bodies of Mayes and Simpson were discovered (WXMI).
A 44-year-old man in Michigan is accused of killing a man and woman whose bodies were discovered hidden inside a shed after a new homeowner moved into the residence.
Rajai Keyontae Brown was taken into custody this week and charged with two counts of open murder in the 2023 slayings of Tarra Mayes and Alfred Simpson, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the bodies of Mayes and Simpson were discovered on Aug. 22, 2023, inside “an exterior shed” at a residence in the 900 block of North Rose Street, which is about 140 miles west of Detroit. An individual who had recently purchased the home and was in the process of renovating it first came across the bodies, which were both in advanced stages of decomposition.
Evidence collected from the property indicated that both victims had been dead “for a significant period of time” prior to being found, police said.
Shortly after the bodies were uncovered, investigators determined that the victims were in a romantic relationship and had previously lived in the home along with Brown, according to Grand Rapids Fox affiliate WXMI.
Witnesses reportedly told investigators they had not heard from either Mayes or Simpson since March 13, 2022. This matched cellphone data showing that the last time the victims” devices shared location data was the same date.
A forensic search of Brown’s cellphone showed that he was in the same location as the victims on March 13, 2022, and did not leave the area until March 14, 2022, Grand Rapids CBS affiliate WWMT reported.
Additionally, investigators spoke to an individual who claimed that Brown confessed to killing the victims sometime during the spring or summer of 2022, WXMI reported. Brown reportedly told the witness that Mayes had attacked him with a knife, leading him to stab her during the ensuing struggle. Brown further claimed that he stabbed Simpson with the knife when he attempted to intervene on behalf of Mayes.
“This arrest is the result of tireless dedication and unwavering focus by our detectives, who never lost sight of our obligation to the victims’ families to hold the offender accountable for his actions,” Capt. Danielle Guilds of the KPD Criminal Investigations Division said in a statement following the arrest.
Brown on Wednesday appeared before Kalamazoo County District Judge Tiffany A. Ankley, who ordered him to remain in detention without bond. He is currently scheduled to make his next appearance in court for a preliminary exam on March 4.
