UW-Whitewater student and champion gymnast Kara Welsh, 21, was shot eight times on Aug. 30, according to a released criminal complaint that accuses her boyfriend, Chad T. Richards, of pulling the trigger.

She died from her injuries that night, and Richards was arrested the next day.

Richards, 23, appeared by video link in a Walworth County courtroom Friday afternoon for an initial appearance on a charge of first-degree intentional homicide. He's being represented by attorney Gibson Hatch of Middleton.

Members of Welsh's family were in the courtroom for the brief hearing.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Oct. 28. During such hearings, prosecutors must show a judge the reason why they believe a defendant committed a crime.

Richards was the one who called police to his off-campus apartment on West Whitewater Street in Whitewater, according to the complaint, which became public Friday morning.

When officers arrived, they found him in a hallway crying. Once inside the apartment, police found a woman "lying on the floor in a pool of blood," the complaint states.

A black gun and several spent casings were found throughout the residence. Richards told Whitewater police he and his girlfriend argued, and he got so mad he punched the door, according to the complaint.

While they were arguing in the bedroom, Welsh grabbed Richards' handgun from a nightstand, according to the complaint. Richards then wrestled the weapon from Welsh and fired, the complaint says.

"The defendant stated that he shot (the victim) with the handgun because he feared for his life," the complaint says.

According to the document, Richards fired some of the shots while Welsh was in a fetal position.

A medical examiner determined Welsh suffered eight gunshot wounds to the neck, torso and other extremities. Eleven spent casings were found on the floor of the apartment.