LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A man has been arrested for rape and attempted murder more than 20 years after police say a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in her bedroom and the man who came to her rescue was shot.

52-year-old David Hollowell of Charlestown, Ind., pleaded not guilty in Clark Circuit Court 1 on Friday. 

Investigators said the crime took place in April 2003, at a home in Charlestown. The victim told investigators she was asleep in her bedroom when she woke up to a man touching her inappropriately. She said the man was armed with a handgun and was wearing a ski mask.

That man proceeded to pull her clothes off and rape her, according to the victim.

During the incident, the victim said another man heard the commotion and tried to get into her room, but the perpetrator held the door closed. 

The good Samaritan then eventually forced his way in and began to hit the perpetrator. That's when the perpetrator shot him before running away.

According to court documents, the witness suffered a traumatic brain injury from the shooting, and after another injury a few years later, is now permanently disabled.

Investigators said a couple of men were identified as suspects over the years, but were eventually exonerated after DNA found at the scene did not match.

But in Dec. 2022, police received a tip that the suspect was one of three men in the same family. Hollowell was one of those three men.

Police said through analysis, they were able to determine that the other two men were not the perpetrators of the crime, but were very closely related to the perpetrator. According to court documents, officers did not obtain Hollowell's DNA, but were able to identify him as the suspect through the process of elimination. 

He's charged with attempted murder, rape, child molesting and burglary. Another court hearing is scheduled in August.

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