Lawyers presented opening arguments in the trial of the alleged murderer of Tara Baker, a University of Georgia law student who was killed in 2001.
State attorneys said during opening arguments in Athens that Edrick Faust, a 51-year-old Athens man, committed Baker’s murder. The killing led to the passage of the Coleman-Baker Act, which funded a cold case unit in the Georgia Bureau of Investigations. Faust was arrested in 2024 when he was matched to DNA found on Baker’s body.
Faust’s attorneys maintained his innocence, arguing that officials botched the original investigation 25 years ago.
Faust is being held without bond at the Athens-Clarke County Jail. The trial may take up to six weeks to conclude.
