Authorities make arrest in 2001 killing of Georgia law student who was found dead in a burning home

A sign for the University of Georgia is seen, May 28, 2004, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Allen Sullivan, File)

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 on Thursday announced the arrest of Edrick Lamont Faust, 48, in the January 2001 killing of Tara Louise Baker. Firefighters responding to a blaze at Baker’s apartment in Athens found the 23-year-old first-year 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 GBI’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.