BAY MINETTE, Alabama — Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon is urging the public to refrain from speculation which has exploded in social media since the shooting of Baldwin County High school student Summer Moody at a Gravine Island fishcamp during the early morning hours of April 16.

She and sheriff’s investigators also are  mum about circumstances surrounding the shooting pending a lengthy investigation involving forensics, interviews and a proposed video recording of the scene to determine light conditions and physical locations of the men who fired the shot that critically wounded Moody, and details of the alleged burglary actions of the three teens she accompanied to the remote island.

Investigators also are examining why the men allegedly fired “warning shots” at terrain level rather than into the air or ground.

 “The events that resulted in Ms. Moody's grievous injury had consequences that are undoubtedly tragic,” Dixon said in an email Friday. “Unfortunately, this is being compounded by misinformation, high emotion and the natural desire to see someone punished when a young woman's life, and that of her family, has been horrifically altered.

“While a final decision will not be made until all relevant facts are known, I must caution the public from reaching conclusions and judgments based on speculation, rumor and the claims of lawyers for the individuals involved,” Dixon said. 

 In followup requests for more specificity, Dixon declined to provide more details. She said she is trying to “tamp down the inaccuracies and rumors being spread like wildfire, primarily through social media like blogs, Facebook, and the like, as well as plain, old gossip.”

The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office upgraded charges to first-degree burglary for three juveniles allegedly involved in a theft plan at the camp. The juveniles are Scott Tipton Byrd, of Stapleton, Daniel Parnell, of Bay Minette, and Dillon Wade Tyree, of Stapleton.

 Bail was set at $100,000 each. Byrd posted bail Monday, according to online records posted at Baldwin County Corrections Center.

Moody was with the group and was critically injured by gunfire from a nearby camp’s occupants when an alleged break-in was attempted.

Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack said noise at 4 a.m. prompted two of the three men in the camp to fired rifles in the darkness at the intruders. One shot hit Moody in the head. She was 15- to 30-feet from the dwelling.

She is listed in critical condition at the University of South Alabama Medical Center. According to an email from attorney Rob Stankoski’s staff Monday, Moody is currently stable from surgery but remains in critical condition.

The intracranial pressure has been reduced but continues to fluctuate at times, medication is no longer needed for blood pressure issues, and she remains unresponsive to commands, Stankoski’s email stated. She requires a ventilator to breathe, has received over 11 pints of blood. Her limbs are being manipulated to reduce swelling.

 “The injuries to Ms. Moody were more severe than original diagnosed, as she received a basilar skull fracture at the time the bullet entered the skull,” the email stated. “There are signs of an infection at the site of the bullet wound which is being treated with antibiotics, and there are three portions of the brain which continue to bleed.”

Stankoski was hired by the family as a conduit for media questions. He said he is not sure if his role will evolve into criminal or civil avenues.

Investigators are not sure, or have not stated, which rifle delivered the blow or the exact location of the juveniles. Mack said the motive appears to be burglary, and that preliminary evidence indicates the males had broken into at least two other dwellings on the remote island.

No charges have been filed agains the men, but an investigation is continuing, Dixon said.

“The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office has done a phenomenal job investigating and getting the truth from the evidence,” Dixon said. “My office has worked closely with the investigation, and I am confident that the investigation has been extremely thorough. With their assistance, we determine the appropriate charges, according to the actual facts and the applicable laws — not conjecture, rumor or emotion.

" As soon as we are able, we will let the family and then the public know as much as we ethically are allowed to about what really happened on this terrible morning.”