Tara Baker was just 23 years old when she was killed — and justice would take almost as long as she had lived.

In January 2001, firefighters found the University of Georgia law student’s body while responding to a reported blaze at an apartment in Athens, Ga., per CNN.

She had been sexually assaulted, strangled and stabbed before her bed and house were intentionally set on fire, per The Red & Black.

No arrests were made for over two decades, until the Coleman-Baker Act, a Georgia law passed in 2023 with her family’s help, established a cold case unit that cracked the case, NBC News reported.

The following year, Edrick Lamont Faust was arrested in connection with Baker’s murder and was later sentenced to life in prison for her death.

Here’s everything to know about Tara Baker’s murder and why it took police so long to arrest her killer.

Baker was sexually assaulted and murdered in 2001

Photo of Tara Baker at news conference.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation

In the morning of Jan. 19, 2001, Athens-Clarke County firefighters responded to a fire at Baker’s apartment.

It was there that they discovered the law student’s naked body. David Freeman, one of the firefighters, later said during Faust’s 2026 trial that Baker “didn’t look real,” per The Red & Black.

He and firefighter Doug Whitehead also testified that her stove was on and that a screen on one of her windows appeared to have been tampered with.

Detectives later determined that the fire had been set intentionally and that her laptop had been taken, per CBS News.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Baker was last seen alive at the UGA Law School Library the evening prior, around 7:30 p.m. She died a day before her 24th birthday.

Her murder went unsolved for over 20 years

Tara Baker family member speaking at news conference.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation

Former UGA police detective Alex Morrow told The Augusta Chronicle in January 2011 that the fire destroyed much of the crime scene and physical evidence that could have led them to the killer.

“The police, I think, are embarrassed about the way they did their investigation,” Lindsay Baker told The Augusta Chronicle on the 10th anniversary of his daughter’s murder. “The crime scene was contaminated — the whole thing was a farce.”

Investigators did identify three possible suspects after the murder: a fellow law school student, an attorney at the firm she worked for and a man she was dating.

However, Baker’s boyfriend, later identified as Chris Melton, per The Red & Black, was ruled out after passing a polygraph and providing an alibi. The investigation into the other two potential suspects didn’t result in charges.

Faust was arrested 23 years after Baker’s death

Edrick Faust police interview.

11Alive News

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced in May 2024 that Faust had been arrested in connection with Baker’s murder and faced several charges, including felony murder, aggravated 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉, arson and aggravated sodomy.

GBI director Chris Hosey told reporters, per CNN, that they found no connection between the victim and the subject and that “biological evidence and DNA science” led them to Faust.

He already had a lengthy criminal history that included arrests for cocaine possession, battery and aggravated 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉, as well as multiple incarcerations, per Fox 5 Atlanta.

Prior to Baker’s murder, Faust was most recently arrested for simple battery, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in 2022, all of which he pled guilty to.

He was found guilty in February 2026

Edrick Faust in court.

Court TV

During Faust’s trial in 2026, the prosecution revealed his DNA matched a likelihood ratio to DNA found in Baker’s 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉 kit.

That link was only discovered in April 2024, after the GBI ran the evidence through new testing technology, The Red & Black reported.

Though his defense argued that there was no evidence tying Faust to the crime scene — and that Melton was the real perpetrator — he was found guilty on 12 charges for Baker’s rape and murder.

In February 2026, he was given two consecutive life sentences along with an additional 45 years behind bars, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

“There are no words to fully express the horror of what this monster did to my daughter, Tara,” her mother, Virginia Baker, wrote in a statement that was read at Faust’s sentencing by her son-in-law.

She continued, “The question that never leaves me is why. I have asked God this question thousands of times. I still have no complete answer, and the pain remains.”