University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student and champion gymnast Kara Welsh was on the floor and in a fetal position when she sustained some of the eight gunshot wounds that killed her, according to newly released court documents.
Her boyfriend, 23-year-old former UW-Whitewater wrestler Chad Richards, was formally charged Friday with first degree intentional homicide in Welsh’s death. He has claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed his gymnast girlfriend.
Police found 21-year-old Welsh lying on the floor in a pool of blood inside Richards’ off-campus apartment in the early hours of Aug. 30.
According to a criminal complaint, which was made public on Friday, officers were called to the residence in Whitewater just after midnight by Richards, who was “crying hysterically” in the hallway when they arrived on the scene, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
He told them he and Welsh got into a nasty argument that night, during which he became so frustrated at one point that he punched a wall.
Welsh responded by grabbing a gun stashed in his nightstand, which subsequently sparked a struggle over the firearm.
Richards said he “feared for his life” in that moment, so he wrestled the gun away from her and started shooting, the documents said. She was struck eight times in the neck, shoulder, wrist and leg, according to the Walworth County Medical Examiner, who ruled her death was the result of the series of wounds.
Evidence collected on the scene, however, suggests that Welsh was already on the ground when at least some of those shots were fired.
During a court hearing earlier this week, a judge set Richards’ bond at $1 million, which he has failed to post in the days since. He remained behind bars on Saturday at Walworth County Jail.
According to Whitewater’s wrestling roster, he was on the university’s team for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, during his freshman and sophomore years.
Prior to her death, Welsh, from Plainfield, Ill., was gearing up for her senior year at UW-Whitewater, where she was pursuing a bachelor’s of business administration with a sports management emphasis.
A national champion and two-time All American, she was one of the most decorated gymnasts in Whitewater history. In 2023, she took the individual national title on vault at the NCAA Division III championships.
With News Wire Services