The long-awaited trial of a man accused in the 2001 killing of a University of Georgia law student is set to get underway Monday morning in Athens.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in the case against Edrick Faust, who was arrested in 2023 in connection with the death of Tara Baker, a first-year law student whose killing remained unsolved for more than two decades.
Baker, who was 23 years old, was found dead inside her burned apartment off Fawn Drive on Jan. 19, 2001 — one day before her 24th birthday. Investigators later determined the fire had been intentionally set and ruled her death a homicide.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Baker was last seen by a friend outside a library around 7:30 p.m. the night before her body was discovered. That friend later received a phone call from Baker, who said she planned to leave the library around 10 p.m. Authorities said that call was the last time anyone heard from her.
No arrests were made for years until Faust was taken into custody in 2023.
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