KALAMAZOO, MI - Police have made an arrest more than two years after the remains of a man and woman were found inside a shed outside a residence.
The victims, 67-year-old Alfred Oneal Simpson and 46-year-old Tarra Dametria Mayes, were found inside an exterior shed on August 22, 2023, PEOPLE reported. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety announced the arrest of 44-year-old Rajai Keyontoe Brown for his connection to the deaths of Simpson and Mayes. Brown has been charged with two counts of open murder.
The remains of Simpson and Mayes were found by a man who had just purchased the property, police said. A probable cause statement said the man was renovating his new home when he found the bodies.
Investigators recovered evidence indicating that the remains had been at the shed for a "significant period." Mayes' daughter said in a Facebook post in August 2025 that she had been missing for a year-and-a-half before her remains were found. Family members confirmed that Mayes and Simpson were a couple.
Family and friends told detectives that the couple had last been heard from on March 13, 2022, FOX17 reported. Their phone records showed the last noted activity came around that date, according to documents filed in court.
A person detectives spoke with during the investigation claimed Brown confessed to the murders in the spring or summer of 2022. The witness said Brown claimed Mayes brandished a knife at him, but Brown was able to wrestle the knife out of his hands and use it on Mayes, according to court records. Brown also confessed that he stabbed Simpson when he tried to intervene, per investigators.
Brown allegedly told the witness he left the bodies in the garage. Mayes' daughter Aileena Hollin said that she believed Brown was their housemate. Online court records did not indicate plea information for Brown at this time.
“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,” said Captain Danielle Guilds of the Criminal Investigations Division.
The victims, 67-year-old Alfred Oneal Simpson and 46-year-old Tarra Dametria Mayes, were found inside an exterior shed on August 22, 2023, PEOPLE reported. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety announced the arrest of 44-year-old Rajai Keyontoe Brown for his connection to the deaths of Simpson and Mayes. Brown has been charged with two counts of open murder.
The remains of Simpson and Mayes were found by a man who had just purchased the property, police said. A probable cause statement said the man was renovating his new home when he found the bodies.
Investigators recovered evidence indicating that the remains had been at the shed for a "significant period." Mayes' daughter said in a Facebook post in August 2025 that she had been missing for a year-and-a-half before her remains were found. Family members confirmed that Mayes and Simpson were a couple.
Family and friends told detectives that the couple had last been heard from on March 13, 2022, FOX17 reported. Their phone records showed the last noted activity came around that date, according to documents filed in court.
A person detectives spoke with during the investigation claimed Brown confessed to the murders in the spring or summer of 2022. The witness said Brown claimed Mayes brandished a knife at him, but Brown was able to wrestle the knife out of his hands and use it on Mayes, according to court records. Brown also confessed that he stabbed Simpson when he tried to intervene, per investigators.
Brown allegedly told the witness he left the bodies in the garage. Mayes' daughter Aileena Hollin said that she believed Brown was their housemate. Online court records did not indicate plea information for Brown at this time.
“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,” said Captain Danielle Guilds of the Criminal Investigations Division.
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