The man suspected of fatally shooting college gymnastics champion Kara Welsh over the weekend was identified Tuesday as Chad Richards, 23, of Loves Park, Ill.
Richards attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater alongside Welsh and was a senior studying communications, Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM reported. At a hearing Tuesday, a judge ordered him held on $1 million bond. He was also barred from the school’s campus.
Welsh, a 21-year-old from the west Chicago suburb of Plainfield, was fatally shot at an off-campus apartment on Friday night in Whitewater, according to police. Cops said Richards was at the apartment when they arrived. They said he knew Welsh and had argued with her before the shooting.
Richards was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, endangering safety by the use of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct while armed, the Whitewater Police Department said Tuesday in a Facebook post.
Richards was also a member of Whitewater’s wrestling team during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, according to the school’s website.
Wisconsin-Whitewater is a multisport powerhouse at the Division III level, and Welsh won the national championship on vault in 2023. She held four of the eight highest vault scores in the history of Whitewater’s gymnastics program, according to the school.
“I have heard many people talk about Kara’s sports accolades, which do deserve to be celebrated, but she had so much more to give to the world besides gymnastics,” her sister, Kaeli, told the court on Tuesday, according to WBBM. “She was a friend to everyone and would give you the shirt off her back to anyone that asked. She was smart, determined and full of life.”
Both Richards and Welsh were slated to start their senior years on Tuesday.
