Athens, Georgia — Court records unsealed this week are finally telling a deeper, more disturbing story about the killing of University of Georgia law student Tara Louise Baker, a case that sat unsolved for more than two decades until an arrest in 2024.
Baker was just one day shy of turning 24 in January 2001 when firefighters responding to a blaze at her Deer Park apartment found her lifeless inside. Investigators concluded the fire was intentionally set, but for years the cause of her death remained a haunting mystery in Athens.
In May 2024, authorities arrested 48-year-old Edrick Lamont Faust and charged him with Baker’s murder after a fresh review of the long-cold case by law enforcement agencies. DNA science and modern forensic tools helped connect Faust to the crime, though officials have not publicly laid out all the evidence tying him to the scene.
New documents filed by Faust’s defense team paint a brutal picture of what they describe as a prolonged, rage-driven attack. The motion claims Baker was beaten so severely her face was swollen and bruised, strangled with a cord, stabbed in the neck, and sexually assaulted before the attacker, while she was still alive, set a blanket on fire and locked her in the room. The filing also alleges the person took steps to wipe down the apartment and remove items that could link them to the crime.
Faust’s lawyers are now asking the court to block certain evidence at trial and argue that what happened does not fit their client’s history or behavior. They also want any mention of an unrelated 2001 stabbing incident involving Faust excluded from the proceedings.
Baker’s last known hours are chillingly clear. She was seen outside the UGA Law Library on the evening of January 18, 2001, then spoke on the phone with a friend just before 10 p.m., saying she would be leaving soon. She never made it home. Her body was discovered the next morning.
Initially, the case faded into obscurity as investigators struggled to find answers. But thanks to the Coleman-Baker Act, a 2023 Georgia law aimed at prompting fresh looks at cold cases, Baker’s file was reopened, and the renewed attention eventually led to Faust’s arrest.
A trial date has now been set for February 2, 2026, nearly 25 years after Baker’s death. For her family and friends, the upcoming courtroom battle represents both a long-awaited chance for answers and a painful step toward closure in a story that has haunted the Athens community for generations.
