*Kalamazoo man heads to trial after being charged with killing two people in 2022*
A Kalamazoo man is heading to trial for a 2022 double homicide on Kalamazoo's northside where the victims' bodies were discovered in a decomposing state in a shed.
Rajai Keyontae Brown, 44, will face two counts of open murder for the deaths of Tarra Mayes, 46, and Alfred Simpson, 67. Brown was arrested and charged in February after a year-long investigation.
The victims' bodies were found by a new homeowner on Aug. 22, 2023, on North Rose Street. Just under three years later, Brown was charged with the murders.
Witness account reveals confrontation turned deadly
During the Wednesday court examination, witness Jesse Palmer provided disturbing details about what happened. Palmer said he used to live in the home on North Rose Street with Mayes, Simpson and Brown.
"I don't know if it was the night before or the night of that Tarra had pulled a knife on him," Palmer said in court. "And I don't know what happened between that but he told me that he ended up taking the knife from her and stabbing her and then Neil (Alfred) came in and try to stop him and then he and Neil got into it and he started stabbing Neil."
Palmer claimed he moved out of the home in February 2022 after Brown "shot at him." When Palmer returned a month later, Brown allegedly told him he had stabbed Mayes and Simpson to death 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.
Phone records helped track suspect
Investigators used phone records to track down Brown. 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.
Phone records were then used to track down Brown in February, according to court documents.
Brown now faces trial in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.