Trial date set for suspect in murder of UGA law student Tara Baker

article

Edrick Faust was denied bond in the 2001 murder of UGA Law student Tara Baker during a court hearing in Athens-Clarke County on Aug. 20, 2024. (FOX 5)

ATHENS, Ga. - A judge has set a trial date for the man accused of killing University of Georgia law student Tara Baker over 20 years ago.

Edric Faust has been in custody at the Clarke County Jail without bond, facing charges that include murder and arson since his arrest in May 2024.

The backstory:

It's been more than 24 years since Baker's body was discovered by Athens-Clarke County firefighters in a burning apartment on Fawn Drive. Investigators determined the fire was an act of arson and that Baker had been brutally murdered.

The 23-year-old law student was last seen by friends around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 18, at the UGA Law School Library. That same friend got a call from Baker around 9:46 p.m. to make sure they got home safely. She told her friend she planned to leave the library around 10 p.m. That was the last time she was seen.

Tara Baker (Georgia Bureau of Investigation)

According to the arrest warrants, Baker was killed between 9:45 p.m. on January 18, 2001, and 11:30 a.m. on January 19, 2001. Faust allegedly used "an instrument, when used offensively against a person, [that] results in strangulation," and is accused of stabbing Baker in the neck with a knife with a blade longer than three inches and striking her head with a blunt object.

Additionally, the warrants say that Faust sexually assaulted Baker during the attack, hid her body, and tried to destroy evidence by setting her apartment on fire.

Faust was arrested and charged in the case after police said that biological evidence and DNA science helped them connect him with Baker's death.

Dig deeper:

Faust has dozens of arrests documented in Athens-Clarke County. According to court records, less than a month after Baker was killed, Faust was arrested and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for cutting someone's neck. 

According to records obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta from the Georgia Department of Corrections, Faust was incarcerated between Aug. 21, 1997, and July 20, 1999, as well as between May 1, 2001, and May 28, 2003.

A search of the Athens-Clarke County court website also returned records for numerous arrests and probation violations dating back to at least 2001. 

Prior to his arrest in the case, Faust had been arrested on March 3, 2022, when he was arrested for simple battery, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespass. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 14, 2022, and was given 50 hours of community service and 12 months' probation.

What's next:

Faust and his attorneys have filed multiple motions to get bond or be placed on house arrest until his trial, but all attempts to remove him from jail have been denied.

His trial is set to begin on Oct. 20 at the courthouse in downtown Athens.