ATHENS, Ga. — Day 5 of the trial in the 2001 killing of University of Georgia student Tara Baker proceeded Friday as the prosecution called cold case investigators to the stand to admit more items as evidence in the prosecution of Edrick Faust.
Larry Peterson, who worked at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab as a hair analyst at the time of the initial investigation, testified about the process and review of hair samples found on the scene of the crime.
Marissa Licon, a forensic scientist at private DNA testing lab Pure Gold was questioned about oral and vaginal swabs received from the GBI in 2024 for serology testing. These items were also admitted as evidence.
Headbutting continued between defense attorney Ahmad Cruz and Superior Court Judge Lisa Lott as Cruz asked to amend the defense’s witness list after “bumping into” a witness in the courthouse whom he couldn’t reach prior to the trial.
Judge Lott denied his request, underscoring that the witness’s name could have been added to the list prior to the trial, even though they hadn’t made contact, and that the jury had already been asked if they were related by blood or marriage to any of the witnesses, and it was too late to ask the question again regarding Cruz’s proposed witness.
State prosecution also brought up a section of the defense’s report which listed a suspect who was neither Edrick Faust nor Chris Melton, Baker’s boyfriend, who was a suspect in the initial 2001 investigation. The prosecution requested it be redacted, as it would be confusing to the jury. Judge Lott concurred that the defense did not follow the legal procedure to get permission to talk about other suspects, and ordered the state to redact the statements that regarded irrelevant suspects.
The trial is scheduled to proceed through Monday, Feb. 7. The defense has yet to begin presenting its case.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with WUGA News
