Prosecutors authorized open-murder charges this month after a lengthy investigation.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Police arrested a 44-year-old man and charged him with two counts of open murder in the deaths of Tarra Mayes and Alfred Simpson, whose bodies were found in an exterior shed at a North Rose Street home in 2023, authorities said.
The arrest marks a major step in a case that began with a shocking discovery during a home renovation and then stretched for years as detectives worked to identify a suspect and build evidence strong enough to bring the matter to court. The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office authorized the charges on Feb. 6, and the suspect, Rajai Keyontae Brown, was arraigned Feb. 11. A judge denied bond, and a preliminary examination is set for early March.
Officers with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety took Brown into custody on Feb. 11 on outstanding warrants connected to the 2023 deaths. Investigators said Mayes and Simpson were found Aug. 22, 2023, inside an exterior shed in the 900 block of North Rose Street. The home’s new owner discovered the bodies after buying the property and starting renovation work, police said. Evidence at the scene suggested the victims had been dead for a significant period before they were found. The department’s criminal investigations unit later submitted the case for review, and prosecutors authorized charges this month after what police described as a lengthy investigation.
Brown is charged with two counts of open murder, a Michigan charge that allows a jury, if there is a conviction, to decide whether the crime should be treated as first- or second-degree murder at sentencing. He was arraigned the day of his arrest, and bond was denied, according to police. Capt. Danielle Guilds of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division said the arrest reflected the work of detectives who kept pushing the case forward. “This arrest is the result of tireless dedication and unwavering focus by our detectives, who never lost sight of our obligation to the victims’ family to hold the offender accountable for his actions,” Guilds said.
Investigators have described the scene as troubling and unusual. Court records and police statements said the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition and appeared to have been hidden for months, and possibly more than a year, before the discovery. Records also show friends and family told detectives the couple had last been heard from on March 13, 2022, adding to the mystery of when the killings happened and how long the remains went undiscovered. A probable-cause document cited by local media said Mayes’ phone stopped sharing location data on March 13, 2022. The same document said records placed Brown’s phone in the same location as the victims until the following day, a detail investigators used as part of the effort to track him down.
Detectives also looked closely at who had access to the property and who had lived with the victims. Court records say Brown had been living in the same home as Mayes and Simpson around the time they disappeared. Investigators interviewed witnesses as the case unfolded. One person told detectives that Brown confessed to the killings in the spring or summer of 2022, according to court records summarized by local outlets. That witness said Brown described a confrontation that involved a knife, and then described stabbing both victims. The witness said Brown claimed he left the bodies in the garage, while police later said the remains were found in an exterior shed. Court records did not make clear when detectives spoke with that witness.
Authorities have not publicly outlined every piece of evidence supporting the charges, and several questions remain central as the case heads toward the next court hearing. Investigators have not publicly said exactly when they believe Mayes and Simpson were killed, and they have not released an official cause of death in the recent announcements. Police statements have emphasized the condition of the bodies and the length of time before discovery, suggesting the deaths happened well before Aug. 22, 2023. The relationship among Brown, Mayes, and Simpson, including how long they lived together and what led up to the alleged confrontation, is also likely to be examined as the court process continues.
What is clear is how the case came back into focus: a combination of investigative follow-up, records analysis, and interviews, according to the summaries released by authorities and described in court documents. Police said phone records helped locate Brown. Local reporting on the probable-cause record said investigators connected the phones’ location data with the period when the couple was last known to be in contact with others. In a more recent interview with investigators, Brown confessed to the killings, according to accounts drawn from court records. Detectives said he admitted taking a knife from Mayes during a confrontation and stabbing her, and then stabbing Simpson when he tried to intervene.
The case had lingered as one of the city’s unresolved homicide investigations. Local reporting said public safety officials continued to reference it among active investigations during 2025, underscoring that detectives were still working leads well after the bodies were found. The gap between the last known contact in March 2022 and the discovery in August 2023 made the investigation unusually complex, raising issues of timeline, potential movements by people connected to the home, and the challenge of proving events when much time has passed. Investigators have indicated that evidence at the scene and information developed later helped them narrow in on Brown and present the case for charging.
As the case moves through court, the next step is Brown’s preliminary examination, scheduled for March 4. At that hearing, a judge will decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to send the case to trial. Brown remains jailed without bond. The open-murder charges leave room for prosecutors to argue for first-degree murder, which in Michigan can carry mandatory life imprisonment without parole, or for a jury to consider second-degree murder, which also carries severe penalties. Court filings and testimony in the coming weeks are expected to expand on the timeline, the condition and placement of the bodies, and the investigative trail that led to Brown’s arrest.
Outside the courthouse, the case has stirred renewed attention in the North Rose Street neighborhood and around the area near Farrel Park, where police said the property sits. The discovery in 2023 came not from a tip but from a new owner working on a house, a detail that has stuck with residents following the investigation. Police said the bodies were discovered inside an exterior shed during renovation work, and they emphasized the length of time the victims appeared to have been deceased. For relatives and friends of Mayes and Simpson, the arrest means the case is no longer just an unsolved tragedy, but a prosecution that will test what detectives can prove and what a jury will ultimately believe.
Investigators have said they are still interested in information about the case as it proceeds. Police encouraged anyone with relevant information to contact the department’s Criminal Investigations Division. While the arrest and charges lay out a path forward, officials have signaled there is more detail expected to come out through the court process, including how prosecutors will present the timeline and what evidence they will rely on to support the charges.
Brown is scheduled to return to court March 4, when a judge is expected to hear early testimony and decide whether the case should proceed toward trial.
Author note: Last updated February 13, 2026.