Scranton, Arkansas is grieving after the death of Ellesse Brianna Taylor, a 14-year-old Scranton High School student whose passing has left family, classmates, teachers and neighbors heartbroken.
The Scranton School District said Ellesse would have been a 9th grader at SHS next school year and described her as “such a sweet, young soul.”
The district added that she will be greatly missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing her. To help students and families cope with the loss, counselors were set to be available at the high school office on Friday, June 12.
Ellesse died on June 8, 2026, in Scranton. She was born on May 23, 2012, in Clarksville to Jimmy Ralph, Jr. and Leia Taylor.
Her obituary said she was a student at Scranton High School and left behind a close family that includes her mother, father, three sisters, grandparents and other loved ones.
Though still so young, Ellesse had already made an impression on people around her. Friends and family have remembered her as a sweet, kind and loved young girl whose presence meant a great deal to the people who knew her best.
One tribute from Sadala Garcia said the family had “lots of beautiful memories” with Ellesse, adding that she spent time with her granddaughter and their family while playing softball, basketball and cheerleading.
Garcia said Ellesse “always had a smile on her face,” a detail that has echoed through many of the other messages shared after her death.
Another commenter, Candace Pierce, wrote that Ellesse “may have been young, but her memory will live on in the hearts of everyone she met.”
Jane Quoss Nichols said it is impossible to fully understand the grief of losing a child unless you have lived through it, adding, “My heart breaks for ELL’s family.” Others simply sent prayers, strength and condolences for the family and the larger Scranton community.
A school and town trying to make sense of the loss
The school district’s message reflected the shock many people are feeling. Ellesse was not just a student in the building.
She was part of the community life around the school, and her death has pushed grief counseling and support into the center of the district’s response.
The district said arrangements will be shared later, and that the school community should continue to keep Ellesse’s loved ones in their thoughts and prayers.
The message also encouraged families to support their children through the loss, especially now as students prepare to move into a new school year without a classmate they expected to see again.
The obituary notes that cremation arrangements are being handled by Roller Funeral Home in Paris, and that a memorial service will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to Helping Our Kids in Scranton or to an account set up in Ellesse’s memory at Logan County Bank.
Ellesse was preceded in death by her grandfather, her great grandparents and her great uncle. She is survived by her mother, father, three sisters, grandparents, great grandmother and numerous cousins.
For many in Scranton, the hardest part is how young she was and how much life still lay ahead. That is what comes through in the tributes again and again, a sense that she had already touched people in the short time she was here and that her loss is being felt far beyond her own family.
One school community post said simply that Ellesse was “a sweet, young soul.” The comments left by friends and neighbors say the same thing in different ways. She was loved, she was remembered, and she will not be forgotten.
