A Kalamazoo man will stand trial for a double homicide on the city's northside that went unsolved for nearly three years.
Rajai Keyontae Brown, 44, was arrested and charged with two counts of open murder for the deaths of Tarra Mayes, 46, and Alfred Simpson, 67, on Feb. 11, 2026. The pair's bodies were discovered in Aug. 22, 2023, by a new homeowner in a decomposing state in a shed on North Rose Street.
The investigation into the double homicide spanned more than a year before police identified Brown as a suspect. Investigators used phone records to track him down in February 2026, according to court documents.
A witness came forward during the investigation, telling police Brown admitted to taking a knife from Mayes during a confrontation and stabbing her. When Simpson attempted to intervene, Brown allegedly stabbed him as well.
Jesse Palmer, a witness in the case, told investigators he used to live in the home on North Rose Street with Mayes, Simpson and Brown. Palmer said he moved out of the home in Feb. 2022 after Brown shot at him.
Palmer returned to the home a month later, and that's when he claimed Brown told him he stabbed Mayes and Simpson to death, which was about a week after their murders.
Palmer also claimed Brown asked him to help take care of the bodies while looking in the direction of the shed on the property.
Through phone records, investigators learned Mayes' phone stopped sharing location data on March 13, 2022, and Brown's phone was in the same location as Mayes and Simpson until the following day.
Palmer provided testimony during examination in court, recounting what Brown told him about the killings.
The case has been followed by local media as it moved through the court system. Brown is now heading to trial after being bound over by the circuit court.
The investigation into the double homicide on Kalamazoo's northside has taken nearly three years from discovery to trial.