Loves Park man charged in shooting death of Plainfield woman in Wisconsin

The Whitewater Police Department in Wisconsin has confirmed the identity of the suspect arrested in the shooting death of a Plainfield woman on Friday.

Chad T. Richards, 23, of Loves Park, Illinois was scheduled to appear in court Monday at the Walworth County Courthouse in Wisconsin, according to Whitewater police.

Richards is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, endangering safety by the use of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct while armed, according to Whitewater police.

Kara Welsh, 21, of Plainfield, was found shot multiple times in an off-campus apartment, according to the Whitewater police. Welsh was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Welsh was discovered after police responded to a call about 11:54 p.m. on Friday of a person having been shot in an apartment in the 100 block of W. Whitewater Street.

Police also found a 23-year-old male in the apartment - now identified as Richards. An altercation occurred between the two before the shots were fired, according to Whitewater police.

Richards had attended UW-Whitewater and was on the school’s wrestling team from 2020-2022. He is not listed on any team roster the past two years.

Welsh would have started her senior year at the UW-Whitewater where she was majoring in management at the College of Business and Economics. She also was a standout member of the Warhawk gymnastics team, winning an individual national title on the vault in 2023, according to the university.

“We know the news of Kara’s death is heartbreaking for our close-knit university community. It is a time when we are all called upon to support one another, to process, and to grieve,” University Chancellor Corey King state in a news release from the university over the weekend.

The UW-Whitewater flag fly was flown at half-staff on Tuesday in memory of Welsh.

As a freshman, Welsh led the Warhawks to a second-place finish in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships after tying for second on the vault. In her first National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Championship appearance, Welsh tied for third on the vault to earn All-America honors, according to the university.

In 2023, Welsh won the vault title at the WIAC Championship meet and qualified for nationals as an individual. She went on to win the national title in the event with a score of 9.825, according to the university.

Welsh graduated from Plainfield Central High School in 2021 and trained at Aspire Gymnastics Academy in Joliet under coach Nick Becker.