Former Athens-Clarke County law enforcement officer William Ricketts took the stand on Day 7 of the trial of Edrick Faust. Ricketts reviewed interviews he conducted in the early days of the 2001 investigation with Chris Melton, Tara Baker’s boyfriend at the time, as well as with Melton’s coworker and family members. Their statements supported Melton’s alibi and ultimately led investigators to rule him out as a suspect.
Even so, the defense has continued urging the judge to allow broader “third-party culprit” evidence and has repeatedly pointed back to Melton as an alternative suspect.
Baker, a first-year law student at the University of Georgia, was last seen alive the evening of Jan. 18, 2001, and her body was found the next morning by firefighters responding to a blaze at her off-campus apartment on Fawn Drive, an arson investigators say was intentionally set. The case remained unsolved for years before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Faust in May 2024, citing newer forensic testing. He faces multiple counts, including murder, felony murder, arson, and aggravated sodomy.
