ATHENS, Ga. — The man accused of the 2001 murder of a University of Georgia law student will remain in jail while awaiting trial after a judge denied his request for bond on Tuesday.
Edrick Faust, 48, was arrested in May and charged with the murder of Tara Baker, whose body was discovered in her burned Athens apartment 23 years ago. The case had gone cold until earlier this year when a newly formed Georgia Bureau of Investigation Cold Case unit looked at the evidence fresh.
On Tuesday, Faust entered a not-guilty plea before Judge Lisa Lott. His attorneys appealed to have him released on bond, proposing that he be placed under 24-hour house arrest with strict conditions. These included only being allowed to leave his home for medical purposes and receiving no visitors except his daughter.
However, the state argued against the request, citing Faust’s criminal history as evidence that he posed a danger to society. Judge Lott agreed, ruling that Faust will remain in jail until his trial.
“The way the state presented this case, this defendant poses a threat,” Judge Lott said in her decision to deny bond.
Faust is expected to return to court in 30 days.
The arrest of Faust earlier this year marked a significant development in a case that had been unsolved for over two decades. Tara Baker, then a 24-year-old UGA law student, was found murdered in January 2001. Investigators believe the fire that consumed her apartment was set intentionally to cover up the crime.
The breakthrough in the case came after the Coleman-Baker Act, a law passed in 2023 that encourages the reexamination of cold cases. The act is named in part for Tara Baker and Rhonda Sue Coleman, another victim whose 1990 murder in Jeff Davis County remains unsolved.
Last year, Athens-Clarke County police, in collaboration with state and federal investigators, revisited the evidence in Baker’s case, leading to Faust’s arrest. Authorities have not disclosed the specific evidence that led to his arrest. Still, Athens-Clarke County District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez expressed confidence that the newly analyzed evidence would hold up in court.
"It is always more of a challenge when it’s an older case, but we believe we’re going to be able to do what needs to be done to get justice," Gonzalez said.
Investigators said they did not believe Faust and Baker knew each other.
Baker’s family, which has been vocal in its pursuit of justice, expressed gratitude for the arrest and urged other families of unsolved cases to remain hopeful.
"Please think of our Tara sometimes and the remarkable woman she would have become. Hers was a life so full of promise," said Virginia Baker, Tara’s mother, following Faust’s arrest.