Suvechha Sarkar
In January 2001, the quiet community of Athens, Georgia, was shaken by the tragic death of 23-year-old Tara Louise Baker. What initially appeared to be an accidental fire was soon revealed to be an attempt to destroy evidence. The case eventually left years of unanswered questions and a series of mysteries in its wake. The episode titled ‘A Window of Time’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline’ examines the circumstances surrounding the case and how the DNA evidence helped bring the killer to light. The episode also features interviews with her loved ones and the officials who helped serve justice.
Tara Baker’s Remains Were Discovered by the Firefighters at Her Apartment
On January 20, 1977, Tara Louise Baker arrived as a bundle of joy in the lives of Lindsay Hugh and Virginia Baker. She grew up in a loving household in East Point, Georgia, alongside her brothers, Adam and Kevin, and her sister, Meredith. Tara was described as a caring and kind person who lit up any room she walked into. After graduating from Lovejoy High School in 1995, she pursued two Bachelor’s Degrees in Paralegal Studies and Political Science at Georgia College in Milledgeville. Tara finally graduated cum laude with both degrees in 1998. She began her professional trajectory in Hancock & Echols in Forest Park. She then joined the farm Fortson, Bentley & Griffin in Athens, Georgia, where she served as a Real Estate Legal Assistant for a year.
By 2001, Tara enrolled in the University of Georgia School of Law and was in her first year. Around the same time, she found love when she met Chris Melton, and it wasn’t long before they began dating. On January 18, 2001, she was at the UGA Law School library with a friend around 7:30 pm. Tara stayed back and called her friend from the library around 9:46 pm to check whether that individual had returned home safely. Unfortunately, things took a dark turn on January 19, when Athens-Clarke County firefighters responded to a fire at Tara’s apartment at 160 Fawn Drive in Athens around 11:20 am. At the scene, officials found Tara dead on the bedroom floor. Officials determined that the fire on her bed was intentionally set using a blanket brought from the living room.
Detectives at the scene reportedly determined that there was an attempt to stage the crime scene and destroy evidence. They noted signs of tampering on doors and windows, and several wiped surfaces. However, they were unable to uncover any usable fingerprints. Forensic experts recovered several pieces of DNA evidence from the scene. The autopsy report revealed that Tara was sexually assaulted before being stabbed in the neck and strangled, likely with a printer cord. Her cause of death was determined to be a combination of strangulation and sharp force injuries. Tara’s manner of death was determined to be a homicide. The University of Georgia School of Law ultimately awarded her a law degree posthumously.
Advanced DNA Technology Led to the Arrest of the Killer Two Decades Later
During the initial phase of the investigation, authorities questioned the friend who last saw Tara on January 18, 2001. They reportedly learned that the friend had spoken to the 23-year-old around 9:46 pm. According to reports, Tara had mentioned on the call that she planned to leave the university library around 10 pm. As investigators dug deeper, they turned their attention to Tara’s then-boyfriend, Chris. Police records specify that he had visible injuries on his hands shortly after the homicide. Furthermore, Chris reportedly gave them inconsistent statements.
However, Chris was ultimately ruled out as a suspect. Although forensic experts had collected a biological sample from the scene, they were unable to definitively identify a suspect. Despite the intensive efforts of the officials, the case went cold for two decades. In September 2023, they reopened the case and began reexamining the evidence related to Tara’s murder. In 2024, advances in DNA technology enabled forensic experts to isolate a male DNA profile from the preserved evidence. After the DNA was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Database, they found a match to a man, Edrick Lamont Faust.
Detectives then obtained a warrant to take additional swabs from Edrick, which also matched. According to court records, when detectives questioned him, he denied any involvement in the crime and claimed he had never seen Tara. Based on the DNA match, officials arrested 48-year-old Edrick in May 2024. He was indicted on the charges of murder, two counts of felony murder, arson, possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, one count of aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, concealing the death of another, and one count of aggravated sodomy.
Edrick Faust is Currently Incarcerated at a Georgia Correctional Facility
The jury trial of Edrick Faust commenced in early February 2026. During the 10-day trial, the prosecution presented several pieces of evidence recovered from the scene, along with DNA evidence linking them to Edrick. At the time of the witness testimony, they called DNA experts, who explained that the match was unlikely to have occurred by chance. On the other hand, the defense argued that the investigation failed to adequately pursue other possible suspects and emphasized that the age of the DNA evidence made it unreliable. They also insisted that no direct evidence tied Edrick to the crime scene. Court records state that the defense contended that the hair found at the scene was not African American but rather Caucasian.
The defense alleged that Tara’s boyfriend at the time could be the killer. During the trial, the defense attorney was held in contempt of court and was fined $1,000. After much deliberation, the jury found Edrick guilty of all the charges against him on February 17, 2026. Two days later, he was sentenced to two consecutive life imprisonment terms. Edrick was also sentenced to an additional 45 years in confinement. Reports state that the defense plans to appeal the conviction, but no public records provide further information on the appeal. As of writing, Edrick is serving his sentence at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson, Georgia.
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