Suspect arrested in 2013 brutal kidnapping and rape of 16-year-old girl

CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) -- A suspect is behind bars for a crime that shocked the community five years ago.

A 16-year-old girl was found naked and bleeding in a movie theater parking lot in Feb. 2013. The victim told investigators she'd been sexually assaulted and beaten."

"This individual was brutally assaulted that night," Lt. JD Philpot said. "Hit in the head numerous times and she's still suffering from brain trauma."

Levi Goss, 24, is charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a child. Records show Goss lived near the crime scene in 2013.

"One can assume because he did have a close family relative living nearby, that he was familiar with that area," Lt. Philpot said.

At the time of the crime, the girl told police she was walking along the road in front of Cypress Woods High School in the 16600 block of Spring Cypress Road at around 11 p.m. when someone grabbed her from behind.

Sheriff's deputies say people walking out of the Cinemark Cypress movie theater saw the girl walking around naked in the parking lot. They told officers she had a head wound and was bleeding badly.

The girl, who was rushed to the hospital by helicopter, told officers she was sexually assaulted in a wooded area in front of the school, then hit on the head with an a blunt object that she described as a hatchet. The victim reportedly eventually played dead in an effort to get her attacker to leave her alone.

Goss is in custody in Cumberland County, North Carolina, currently being held on $1 million bond and awaiting transfer to Harris County.

"Considering how horrible it was, I'm glad they kept after it and pursued them and somebody was arrested," Cypress resident Michael Boyer said.

A member of the U.S. Army, Goss was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where he is being investigated by military authorities in connection with another sexual assault case.

Goss is a member of the 82nd Airborne. The infantry division sent Eyewitness News a statement regarding his arrest.

"Private First Class Levi Goss, an All American Paratrooper, is in civilian confinement. He is under investigation by civilian law enforcement for an allegation that may predate his military service. We are cooperating with civilian law enforcement in this matter."

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory notified the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science in January that Goss' DNA matches evidence collected from the victim of the 2013 attack.

If he's convicted of the first-degree felonies he's currently charged with, Goss could face up to life in prison.