Judge steps down from Tara Baker murder case on eve of trial

Lott

By Joe Johnson

The judge who has presided over the case of the man accused of murdering University of Georgia law student Tara Baker has recused herself only days before the trial is scheduled to begin.

Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge had overseen the case since defendant Edrick Faust was indicted in August 2024.

Defense attorney Ahmad R. Crews had argued in the recusal motion that certain pretrial rulings that Lott made jeopardized his client’s chances of having a fair trial. He alleged that bias against Faust swayed the judge’s decisions.

The case has been reassigned to Judge H. Patrick Haggard and the trial appears to be on track to begin on Monday.

Baker was murdered in her eastside Athens home in

January 2001 and case gained national attention as it went unsolved until a DNA match resulted in Faust being arrested in May 2024.

Hagard is a veteran judge who has presided over such high-profile trials as the killer of nursing student Laken Riley and Athens cop-killer Jamie Hood.

Haggard