Arrest made in ’01 slaying of student

ATHENS, Ga. — More than two decades after a University of Georgia law student was found dead in her burning home, authorities have arrested a man and charged him with murder in her slaying.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Athens-Clarke County police Thursday announced the arrest of Edrick Faust, 48, in the January 2001 killing of Tara Baker. Firefighters responding to a blaze at Baker’s apartment in Athens found the 23-year-old law student’s body.

Investigators determined that Baker had been killed and the fire intentionally set, and police had been trying to find Baker’s killer since then. The bureau’s cold case unit partnered with Athens-Clarke County police in September to do an “in-depth review and analysis” of the investigation, the GBI said in a news release.

The release did not indicate what led investigators to Faust or explain how or whether he and Baker knew each other. He was booked into the county jail late Thursday on charges including malice murder, aggravated sodomy and arson.

It was not immediately clear whether Faust had an attorney who could comment on the charges.