Many people in my life have been a positive influence, but I have decided to write about
one person in particular. I admire this person greatly. This person is my cousin, Tara Louise Baker.

            Tara was born on January 20, 1977 and died on January 19, 2001 at age twenty-three. She
would have been twenty-four the next day. Tara was killed that Friday in her apartment in Athens
where she attended the University of Georgia. Her murder is an unsolved mystery because it has been
four years, and we still do not know who killed her.

            I still cannot believe she is gone. It is like a nightmare you will never wake up from.
It seems like just the other day we were in my grandmother’s den watching the video of our great
grandmother’s funeral. Then all of a sudden I was at Tara’s funeral. I look back in my mind and
remember how sweet she was and the fun times we had together. Then I remember why I had admired her
and why I still do.

            One of the main reasons I admire her so much is her lovingness to her family. She was
always caring and loving to all of our family. Because of her love, she always kept her promises.
The last Christmas before she was killed in January, she had informed the family she would not be
able to spend our traditional Christmas Eve with us because she was planning to spend it with her
boyfriend’s family. However, true to her promise to try to make it if she could, she showed up to
wish everyone a Merry Christmas and spend a little time with us. It was special to all of us because
it was the last Christmas we were able to have with her.

            Another reason I admire my cousin is how she showed kindness to everyone, that is not
just her family. She had a very kind, loving, and unselfish disposition. Tara held study group
sessions at her apartment to help fellow students with their studies. She would bake cookies for all
of them and serve everyone there with true Southern hospitality. She always went out of her way to
help others. The friends she made in high school, college, and her sorority sisters all told the
same stories of how sweet, kind, and helpful she was to friends and strangers. She would tend to go
the extra step to be kind to the “misfits” and those most people considered weird, ugly, or strange.

            Responsibility is a word that describes Tara vividly. Tara had three younger siblings,
and she always took care of them, exceeding her responsibility as their older sister. She acted like
the “little mother” to all of them especially my cousin Kevin. She was twelve when he was born and
treated him like he was her baby. She would feed them, bathe them, and watch over them to make sure
they were all okay as though she was their mom. One time she was staying with all her siblings at
home by herself, and Kevin was jumping and fell off the bed and busted his head wide open. Tara and
blood did not get along very well and blood was gushing out of Kevin’s head. She still held his
wound together with her hands and a towel while Meredith and Adam called their parents. As soon as
they got there, she handed Kevin to their Dad and then passed out on the floor.
  
            Another big reason I admire her is because of the intelligence she had. Tara attended
the University Of Georgia. She was studying to be a lawyer. She would have graduated in the year
2003. She inspired her sister to study law as well. Tara wanted to be a lawyer in hopes of becoming
a judge one day. In her words she wanted “to put the bad people in this world away.”  Tara always
believed there should be justice in this world, but for someone who wanted this so badly, no justice
has been served in the case of her murder.