Hold My Sweet Tea
Where True Crime collides with chilling ghost stories and Southern folklore. Join us, sip sweet tea, and uncover shocking tales of murder, mystery, and the supernatural, all with a healthy dose of Southern charm and a touch of sass!
Hold My Sweet Tea
EP. 38-Unlocking Justice: The Tara Baker Murder Case
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One day before her 24th birthday, promising law student Tara Baker's bright future was violently stolen from her. A deadbolted door, a deliberately set fire, and an apartment in flames created a perfect storm that nearly erased all evidence of what really happened that night in January 2001.
Tara was the embodiment of what makes an exceptional lawyer - brilliant, compassionate, and committed to fighting for the underdogs of society. Her fellow UGA law students remember her as the person who brought people together, ensuring no one felt excluded. She had just finished another late night at the law library, calling a friend at 9:46 PM to make sure they'd arrived home safely. Hours later, firefighters would make the devastating discovery that would haunt Athens, Georgia for more than two decades.
For 23 years, the case remained unsolved despite several promising leads: a boyfriend (quickly cleared), a suspicious classmate, a local criminal spotted nearby, and a former colleague who mysteriously left town after her murder. The crime scene itself presented nearly insurmountable challenges - water from firefighting efforts washed away crucial evidence while the deliberately set fire destroyed other potential clues.
The breakthrough finally came through the power of modern forensic science and a newly established cold case unit named partly in Tara's honor. In May 2024, authorities arrested Edric Lamont Faust, a man with a violent criminal history but, surprisingly, no connection whatsoever to Tara. The DNA evidence collected at the original crime scene, preserved for over two decades, had finally spoken. This wasn't a crime of passion between acquaintances as initially theorized - it appears to have been a random attack, a devastating moment of opportunity that robbed the world of a promising advocate for justice.
Listen as we unravel how this case finally found resolution, the complicated emotions faced by Tara's family, and how her legacy lives on through Georgia's dedicated cold case unit that bears her name. If you have information about this or any unsolved case, consider reaching out to authorities - your tip could be the missing piece that brings a family the answers they've waited decades to hear.
Sources:
Last updated: October 20, 2024
https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/classic-city-crime-1332721/episodes/introducing-classic-city-crime-69782265
https://gbi.georgia.gov/cases/unsolved-homicide/tara-louise-baker
by: Hollie Lewis
Posted: Jun 1, 2022 / 05:45 PM EDT
Updated: Jun 1, 2022 / 05:23 PM EDT
https://www.wsav.com/now/uga-law-students-homicide-cold-case-of-tara-louise-baker/
https://www.onlineathens.com/story/news/state/2017/02/26/still-no-arrest-16-years-after-uga-law-student-s-murder-police-believe-case/15433794007/
By Kim Leoffler and FOX 5 Atlanta Digital TeamUpdated May 10, 2024 5:08pm EDTAthens-Clarke County
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/athens-man-charged-with-murder-in-2001-murder-of-uga-law-student-tara-louise-baker
Introduction to Tara Baker's Murder
Speaker 1Today we're covering the case of a brilliant young woman, a heinous crime and a relentless pursuit of answers that has very recently culminated in a significant arrest. This is Hold my Sweet Tea, thank you, hello. Hello, I'm Holly and I'm Pearl.
Speaker 2And then behind us is the thunder, the thunder.
Speaker 1It's getting a little stormy outside, so if you hear any sensory sounds, it's brought to you by nature, right Brought to you by Louisiana weather. Yes, it's been kind of yucky here lately. I know we talk about the weather sometimes but, like you, just can't help not talk about it. It went from being heat index of 105 today to now it's about to storm, so it's gross.
Speaker 2Yep, and it's been like raining a lot this week.
Speaker 1Which makes it even worse because of the steam and the like, extra mugginess to the humidity. So when you walk outside at six o'clock in the morning it smacks you right in the face, yeah.
Speaker 2Definitely, when you go from air to the outside, it's oof. Yeah, I had to get gas this morning and got out of the car and immediately I can't see.
Speaker 1Yeah, my glasses get fogged up. My sunglasses do that. I went to pop them on this morning. I was like nope, I can't see anything. Yeah, so I had to take them off and leave them on my dashboard. I'm like clear up buddies, because I'm going to need you.
Speaker 2Right, I need to drive. So what state are we going into today?
Speaker 1We are going in to the G, to the E, to the O-R-G-A Georgia.
Speaker 2R-G-A. I was like is she going to spell the whole thing? Nope. Is she going to.
Speaker 1The R-G-A. The R-G-A yeah, we're heading to Georgia and this is another one of those sad ones and it kind of reminds me a little of your case last week on Thursday, okay. So you'll see some similarities a little bit in there. So you'll be like, oh okay, that's kind of like mine last week, be like, oh, okay, that's kind of like mine last week, but this is the brutal murder of University of Georgia law student, tara Louise Baker. All right, yeah, so this case has cast a long shadow over Athens, georgia, for over two decades.
Tara's Life and Legal Aspirations
Speaker 1Born on January 20th 1977, in East Point, georgia, born on January 20th 1977 in East Point, georgia, tara was a beacon of kindness, inclusivity and an unwavering champion for social justice. So she's always, you know, just been that person who was fair and just with everybody. So it was only natural for her to go into law. Yeah, she graduated cum laude from Georgia College in Milledgeville, georgia, in 1998, with two bachelor's degree and by 2001, she was a first year law student at University of Georgia, poised to make a real difference in the world. Friends and classmates remember her as someone who effortlessly brought people together, ensuring that no one felt excluded, especially in academic settings. She was known for her academic prowess, yes, but equally for her empathetic spirit and her belief in fighting for the less fortunate.
Speaker 2And you know what's really sad is. I find like and I get it when somebody dies, you just want to say all the nice things about them. But it also is like crazy how many people that could have really made a big difference end up being victims of crimes as one person described her.
Speaker 1She believed in the application of the law. She believed in fighting for people that were less fortunate or whose society might consider to be underdogs. But Tara's bright future was tragically cut short On January 19th 2001,. Just a day before her 24th birthday, Athens-Clarke County firefighters responded to a blaze at her rented home on Fawn Drive. So kind of like your case, because Day before the birthday, Day before the birthday.
Speaker 2You know what else, though? Chandra May. Her body was found day before her birthday.
Speaker 1That's so insane.
Speaker 2Yeah, lots of days before her birthday.
Speaker 1That's so insane.
Speaker 2Yeah, lots of days before your birthday.
The Crime Scene Discovery
Speaker 1So what they discovered there would shake the community to its core. The scene was unsettling from the start. The front door of Tara's apartment was deadbolted, so it was locked from the inside. But it was on fire, so, deadbolted from the inside, all four burners on the kitchen stove were turned to high what the heck gas stove? And, like her, two roommates were out of town, so it was just tara there. Oh, wow, yeah, firefighters had to force entry into her house and then also force entry into her locked bedroom and adjoining bathroom, where they found her on the floor. Her mattress and pillow were like engulfed in flames and everything, and she was on the floor, badly burned.
Speaker 2Oh, wow, so okay, the whole place was on fire the whole place was on fire by the time they got there okay, I was just like thinking to myself maybe the front was on fire, her room wasn't quite on fire yet, but then they found a separate fire in her room. Okay.
Speaker 1The whole place was like engulfed already. I am now caught up, sorry. A civilian casualty report would later indicate that Tara was incapacitated prior to ignition and had sustained injuries to multiple parts of her body. The investigation quickly determined that the fire was intentionally set, an act of arson designed to conceal a far more sinister crime Tara Baker had been brutally murdered.
Speaker 2Did they state how the person left. No but we're going to Like, with all that stuff being locked yeah with all the stuff being locked.
Speaker 1They really don't know how. But I'm going to kind of go through a timeline of events leading up to and following the discovery. So let's start on January 18, 2001. At approximately 7.30pm Tara is last seen alive by a friend at the UGA Law School Library. So that friend leaves, tara is still at the library. So at approximately 9.46 pm Tara calls the same friend from the library to ensure that they arrived home safely. Like she was always looking out for her friends.
Timeline and Early Investigation
Speaker 1She was like hey, did you make it home safely? I'm still at the library. So she had planned on leaving the library around 10 pm. So this was the last known contact with Tara. So somewhere between 9.45 pm on January 18th and 11.30 am on January 18th and 11 30 am on January 19th, this was the period during which Tara Baker was killed and fire was set to her house. Okay, on the 19th the Athens County firefighters discovered Tara's body while responding to a fire at her apartment. Like I said, it was determined to be arson. The investigators had confirmed that she was brutally murdered. And this was before you know. Everything was set on fire. So then of course, an immediate homicide investigation begins.
Speaker 1Authorities, for strategic reasons, largely withheld details surrounding Baker's death, including the manner of her murder. However, early reports indicated that she was savagely attacked and during a fierce struggle. So she was fighting back, told her father like she put up one heck of a fight. The killer had used like different types of weapons they could. They didn't know because everything was burned so badly. Right, you know, evidence was destroyed so they really couldn't tell what was used. But she put up a fight. So police questioned a few people. These were some leads that they had so immediately. Tara's boyfriend, of course, yeah so he he passed a polygraph.
Speaker 1He also had a corroborated alibi, so he was good he was. He was ruled out. Then there was a quote-unquote creepy law student in her study group, but they didn't find any incriminating evidence on him.
Speaker 2I'm going. Who turned over the creepy law student?
Speaker 1They were like oh, there's this one creepy law student. Maybe you should ask him some questions. Check on this guy.
Speaker 2He looks like a weirdo.
Speaker 1They also questioned a black male which was seen at her driveway around 7 am on the day of the fire. He was also like a known local criminal. But that lead went cold.
Speaker 2Well, at least they had a reason other than just he looked creepy Right.
Speaker 1He wasn't, yeah, he wasn't, the creepy one.
Speaker 2He was a previously, you know, convicted mother Right, so okay.
Speaker 1They also questioned a married white man Tara had previously worked with who allegedly made romantic overtures toward her and he's guilty and left town right. Left town shortly after her death and he was never located or questioned. They had questioned some people that knew him. See what I mean. Yeah, that's sus. So the lack of witness physical evidence like this hampered the whole case. The crime scene completely contaminated from firefighters, water making fingerprint collection difficult. Hair was found but it was determined to be Tara's. The condition of her body made it difficult to collect trace evidence like skin under her nails and things like that.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's kind of burned away everything they could have used, right, and then what wasn't burned away got washed away got washed away because of all that, because the time they got in there and like we're putting it out and found her like everything was drenched, yeah already unfortunate because they have no other choice.
Speaker 2I mean, this is the only way to get it all done and get her out of there, and they've like, yeah, and the burners on the stove are on, so it was just feeding more flames in there.
The Case Goes Cold
Speaker 1So in May of 2003, tara Louise Baker is help me with this word Pearl. What is this?
Speaker 2word. Well, some people will say posthumously, other people say it just like it's spelled, some will say posthumously, and I don't think that that's the correct way.
Speaker 1So posthumously is the way I would pronounce that. There's the pronunciation of the day. That word awarded her a law degree from UGA School of Law. So she did get a law degree from the School of Law, even after she had passed away. So her case runs cold for over two decades, runs cold for over two decades. It just sat there, nothing. So on March 3rd of 2022, a man named Edric Lamont Faust is arrested for simple battery, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, and then he pled guilty in November of 2022 to those charges. So he was in jail. Faust had a numerous prior arrest and convictions for various offenses, including aggravated assault less than a month after Tara's murder, for which he pleaded guilty to cutting someone's neck. He was also incarcerated between August of 1997 and July of 1999, and again between May of 2001 and May of 2003. So he's been in and out of it. Trouble. He's in the area.
Speaker 2So is he just in the area or is he just like? Do they have a way to connect him to her specifically?
Speaker 1Well, I'm going to. Is that where you're going? Yeah, that's where I'm going with it. Okay, so I was like, let me, let me sneak into it. So, september of 2023, the GBI cold case unit partners with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department to conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of the ongoing investigation into Tara's death. So, on May 9th of 2024, they had a significant breakthrough Edric Lamont Faust, 48, of Athens, is arrested and charged with multiple crimes related to Tara's death, which I'll go into shortly. Like all the stuff that he did, okay, okay. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation held a press conference revealing details about Faust's arrest, crediting biological evidence and DNA science combined with collaborative investigative work. Gbi Director Chris Hosey states no connection was discovered between the victim and the suspect, so they had no common friends or acquaintances or anything like that. So they had no common friends or acquaintances or anything like that. But the stuff that they did collect and the DNA that they did collect at the time of her, when they found her, it did match his DNA.
Speaker 1Okay, so it's like a crime of opportunity, just like something off the cuff huh, it was kind of like the the guy looking for unlocked doors, okay, pretty much, and she came home from the library so he could have just followed her in. They still never said how he got out, if it was through a window or some other door that was unlocked.
Breakthrough Arrest and DNA Evidence
Speaker 1Or the wall Right or the wall Sorry, or some other door that was unlocked, or the wall Right or the wall Sorry. The arrest of Edric Lamont Faust marks a monumental turning point in this decade-old case. Like they didn't think that they were going to find anybody, they had pretty much not given up. But it was a case where you're like, okay, well, we don't have anything, we don't have anything. This guy gets arrested. You're like, okay, well, we don't have anything, we don't have anything. This guy gets arrested. And of course you know they're going to run DNA and all that stuff.
Speaker 2I'm so glad they started doing that Same.
Speaker 1And then all of a sudden it pops up and you're like, oh so this, this guy here, it's a match, mm-hmm. So GBI director Chris Hosey and Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Jerry Salters, who was an officer at the crime scene back in 2001,. Both expressed profound relief and pride. Find justice for the loss of Tara.
Speaker 1Knowing that the evidence collected at the time contributed to the arrest today gives me a tremendous, like sense of pride, and all the officers who worked on this case for over like over the years. The breakthrough highlights the power of modern forensic science and the tireless dedication of cold case investigators. So, while details about how biological evidence and DNA led directly to Faust are still under wraps so this is still something that's ongoing so this it was just last year that this arrest happened. So it's clear that the advancements in DNA technology, combined with a fresh look at the original evidence, were critical. This is a significant detail, as earlier theories based on circumstantial evidence and anonymous sources have suggested Tara knew her killer due to the lack of forced entry, the savage nature of the attack, often indicative with an emotionally charged crime, that what you think of like she knew the person, or something like that because of how it happened.
Speaker 1but right, there was no nothing that connected them together, however, with the arrest of Faust, who has a documented history of violent crime. The motive remains the key question to be answered as the legal process unfolds. So this brings us to the Coleman Baker Act, which was passed. It was a new cold case unit that they started, the GBI cold case unit, created in July of 2023. And it's really weird because Tarot's case was the first one solved, so her family and this other family had started it and her case was the one that was solved first.
Speaker 1Tara's story extensively on his Classic City Crime podcast, worked with the Baker and Coleman families to advocate for this legislation. Harrison told CNN I could have not thought of a better way to honor Tara Baker's life and legacy a legacy of fighting for justice and believing in the law than for this bill to have not only been named after her but to have brought about justice for her, for Tara's family. The arrest was a source of complex emotions, so I mean, it's like 23 years later and then all of a sudden, this arrest happens and you're grieving like day one pretty much again.
Speaker 1yeah, it's like reopening that wound, not that it was ever actually closed, right, but you're still like, it's still a powerful feeling that you have and you know, even though there is an arrest of a person, you still want to know why and how Like it. Just it's always there. So the charges that were brought against edrick lamont faust are very severe murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, concealing a death, arson, possession of a knife during a felony, tampering with evidence and aggravated sodomy. Oh, God.
The Coleman Baker Act Legacy
Speaker 1Yeah, he remains in the Clark County jail without bond. As this case moved through the court, more details will emerge and you know I'll continue to follow it closely for any updates. But for now, you know we're going to hold Tara Louise Baker in our thoughts, remembering her spirit and her dedication to justice and the profound impact she had on those around her. I just I have like deep sympathy for her family and I'm glad that they're getting some answers, but they still need the rest of the puzzle put together. But if anybody has any information about the case, they can submit a tip to the GBI by calling 1-800-597-4877, or you can go online at gbigeorgiagov forward slash, submit dash tips, dash online, or by downloading the See Something, send Something mobile app, which I didn't know was a thing.
Speaker 1Oh, that's cool. This case, hopefully, will come to trial soon and we'll find out some updates on it. So I'll definitely be doing one of those Yay, update, yeah, but it's, you know, and it's a case that it's one that will stick with you. Right, it'll stick with me, but like they actually found somebody, and that's good, because I've done like cases where we don't know what's going on and all that stuff.
Speaker 2And what's crazy is just like the whole zero connection. Mm. Hmm, I just saw you and I'm going to take advantage of this moment.
Speaker 1Right To be so brutal about it and all the things and then try to cover up by arson. Like yeah, yeah, crazy yeah but he has a past and there's dna match.
Speaker 2So we'll see where it unfolds and I will keep everybody updated yeah, that'll be uh interesting to see how it comes out, for sure I did the little ding for the alerts yeah, fun times now. I'm not the only one with alert with alert things yep. The crazy thing is, though, like I told you on my last, one I'm like there was no alert.
Speaker 2The alert for me was just like I need to go look this up again, because there was such an uptick in views on that episode. I'm like why is everybody watching this? And then I went oh, that's why.
Speaker 1But thanks for watching it. Shame on you, google Right For not updating Like come on.
Speaker 2Not telling me, but there really wasn't a lot of coverage.
Speaker 1Yeah, because you said it was just like one local news thing One local news station. Yeah, so yeah, it needs to be put out there.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 1It's coming.
Speaker 2It's coming In a couple of days.
Speaker 1Yes, be there Thursday.
Speaker 2Yeah, our theme-y music. It's by Patti Salzetta and I mean, if anybody has any extra little something they've seen about you know this case or any of the other ones we've covered like make sure you email us at steeped at hold my sweet teacom, and you can always message us on the socials, because we check that stuff all the time, absolutely Absolutely, and we do a happy dance. Yeah.
Speaker 1Every time we get something, we're like woo-woo, somebody talk to me, we got interaction.
Closing Thoughts and Call to Action
Speaker 2Yay, it's especially fun when you get interaction, like from people who actually worked a case yeah, or a family member who has accidentally heard it. Or somebody who lived there during that time.
Speaker 1those are my favorite, for sure, because like the back and forth there is always like really significant yeah, because I got that on my um angela freeman case. Like people were like oh, I grew up in petal, mississippi, I knew her, I knew her family and things like that, so they interacted and I was like that makes me feel so good about doing this case.
Speaker 2Yeah, and you get thank you for bringing it back up. Yep, which is cool. That's the point, yeah, to bring it back up so everybody remembers. And the ones that aren't solved, hope that everybody keeps looking. Yeah, yeah, so.
Speaker 1All you citizen detectives out there.
Speaker 2Yeah, and of course, share the link to this episode. Yeah, with your friends, please, with your enemies, with your frenemies, With your frenemies.
Speaker 1Like your cat might even want to listen like come on, they like podcasts they I mean my dogs watch tv.
Speaker 2So yeah, put it on, put it on youtube let them. Let them listen, right?
Speaker 1make them their own YouTube channel. Okay, you don't have to go that far, no, no, just let them listen. But Hold, my Sweet Tea is, as always, a drunken bee production and you guys remember to stay safe out there. And just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep sipping, bye.
Speaker 2Thank you you.