The Heinous Murder of Tara Baker is Solved with Cameron Jay of the Classic City Crime Podcast
Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.4 • 696 Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2024
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On January 19, 2001, Athens-Clarke County firefighters found Tara Baker's body responding to a fire at her Athens apartment. The investigation determined that the fire was intentionally set, and investigators spent over two decades seeking answers in the case.
Guest Bio and Links:
Cameron Jay is a true crime junkie whose fascination with the subject comes from the heart- crime is personal. Having a second cousin who was murdered and a best friend killed at the hands of a distracted driver, Cameron believes in advocating for justice and seeking answers for all. Cameron obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from the University of West Georgia in May of 2024. Cameron is the host of Classic City Crime Podcast
Listeners can learn more about Cameron Jay at his website, and on IG @classiccitycrime
In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, discusses the resolution of a 23-year-old cold case involving law student Tara Baker from Athens, Georgia. Joined by Cameron Jay, the host of the Classic City Crime Podcast, they dive into the investigation, the advocacy efforts, and the legislative impact of House Bill 88. Cameron also shares the perseverance of Tara's family, the power of community, and the technological advancements that led to solving this case.
Show Notes:
- (0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum
- (0:15) Sheryl gives a brief background of the case of Tara Baker
- (3:00) Sheryl introduces guest, Cameron Jay and his role in advocating for Tara's case
- (6:00) Cameron Jay's connection to true crime and his motivation to start podcasting
- (8:00) House Bill 88
- (11:30) Cold Case Accountability Act
- (17:15) “You know, justice might be delayed sometimes, my friend, but it's still going to be right on time when it comes knocking.”
- (20:00) Sheryl and Cameron discuss the possibilities behind how Tara’s case was solved
- (27:00) A gift of gratitude
- (36:10) “I am Tara's mother. I always will be Tara's mother.” -Virginia Baker.
- Thanks for listening to another episode! If you’re loving the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review!
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.
Social Links:
- Email: [email protected]
- Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
- Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum
- Instagram: @officialzone7podcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A 23-year-old Athens-Georgia Cold Case is solved, honey. |
| 0:15.0 | Tara Baker was a law student at the University of Georgia. |
| 0:19.0 | She was studying at the library with friends. She was |
| 0:22.8 | last seen by them about 7.30 on January 18, 2001. Tara ironically called her friend who left the |
| 0:34.2 | library before she did about 946 to make sure she had made it home safely. |
| 0:40.9 | She told her friend that she wasn't going to stay much longer. |
| 0:43.4 | She was probably going to be headed home about 10. |
| 0:45.7 | That's the last time anybody heard from her. |
| 0:49.7 | Baker was killed between 9.45 p.m. on January the 18th and 11.30 a.m. on the 19th, according to law enforcement. |
| 1:00.2 | Tara had been strangled, stabbed, and suffered blunt trauma. She was also sexually assaulted. |
| 1:08.5 | Then her home was set on fire. Now any one of those events could have killed |
| 1:14.2 | her. It didn't take all four. So that tells us a little bit about who the suspect might have been, |
| 1:21.6 | the type of person the suspect might have been. The events that occurred at 160 phone drive were heinous and shocking |
| 1:31.5 | to the town of Athens. Now those of y'all that don't know Athens, I'm going to tell you, |
| 1:36.9 | it is a beautiful college town. It is fun. It is vibrant. It is hustling. It is bustling. You've got an athletic situation that is second |
| 1:48.3 | to none, whether it's football, basketball, gymnastics, you've got fine arts that are second to |
| 1:54.5 | none, you've got the Redcoat marching band, you've got singers, you've got dancers, you've got |
| 1:59.8 | artists. It's just a wonderful place to |
| 2:02.5 | visit. It is a tremendous place for these students to live their three or four or five years while |
| 2:09.0 | they're studying different things. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Athens Shore Drive. |
| 2:15.3 | But I want to ask y'all something. Who kept this case alive? |
| 2:19.7 | Who shed light on the facts of this case? Who stayed in contact with her mama, Virginia Baker? |
... |
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