23 years after the murder of Tara Louise Baker, her family finally has some answers.
“I’m so grateful, I want people to know that prayers work,” Baker’s mother Virginia said. “Don’t ever stop praying, don’t ever stop having hope in your heart, because it can happen.”
At a press conference held Monday at GBI Headquarters in Decatur, Baker and her family expressed their relief following the recent arrest of Edrick Lamont Faust, a suspect in the case.
“We grieve for Tara. We grieve for those we lost along the way still waiting for answers. We grieve for the new generation that will never truly understand how amazing their Aunt Tara was. And we grieve for the Faust family,” said Tara’s sister Meredith Baker Schroeder. “While we understand that this is the first step of many, we are grateful for this day.”
Cold case unit formation and breakthrough
GBI Director Chris Hosey, Athens-Clarke County Police Department Chief Jerry Saulters, FBI-Atlanta SAC Keri Farley, Western Judicial Circuit DA Deborah Gonzalez, and State Representative Houston Gaines joined the Baker family for the May 13 press conference.
At the time of her murder, Tara was 23 and a first-year law school student at the University of Georgia. Her legacy lives on in the Coleman-Baker Act, which the state legislature unanimously passed in 2023.
Named for Rhonda Sue Coleman and Tara Baker, the bill, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law, has been “significant in addressing cold cases and providing a process for reviewing and investigating unsolved murders in Georgia,” Director Hosey said.
He expressed gratitude to the GBI Cold Case Unit, created in July 2023 to investigate unsolved homicides. He also thanked the other agencies that assisted in solving the crime, including the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD), Georgia State Patrol, and FBI.
“For over two decades, investigators have worked tirelessly to find answers for the family and friends of Tara Louise Baker and bring some amount of closure and healing to this horrific incident,” Hose said. “With an arrest in this investigation last week, it is my prayer this process has begun.”
Law enforcement’s message and a mother’s plea
On January 19, 2001, Tara Louise Baker was found dead in her Athens apartment after a fire was intentionally set. In September of 2023, the GBI Cold Case Unit partnered with the ACCPD to conduct an in-depth review and analysis of the ongoing investigation. This partnership led to Faust’s arrest. Authorities charged the 48-year-old Athens man with murder, aggravated assault, arson, and aggravated sodomy.
“For many years, I have hoped the Baker family would find justice for the loss of Tara,” said Chief Saulters, who was an officer at the crime scene in 2001. “This is a case that has lived with me throughout my career at ACCPD. I remember being there during that horrific time. Seeing this case now full circle, I appreciate the hard work of the detectives, from then and now. Knowing that the evidence collected at that time contributed to the arrest today gives me tremendous pride in all the officers who worked this case over the years.”
“The recent events in the Tara Baker investigation also send a strong message that justice has no expiration and law enforcement in Georgia will never stop seeking answers to these tragic events,” said Hovey.
Before leaving the press podium, Baker’s mom made a final appeal to the people of Georgia.
“Please think of our Tara sometimes and the remarkable person she would have become. Hers was a life so full of promise.”
