HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A community came together to formally honor a beloved 7-year-old girl who died last summer.
Hendersonville police said her mother, Brandi Elliott, fatally drowned Piper Elliott in a creek in July 2024. There is a permanent memorial in her honor: a bench near the spot where she died.
Now, there is a permanent memorial in her honor, a bench, near the spot where she died.
“She was a very happy little girl,” Piper’s dad, Jon Elliott. said. “She was so into music and dancing and bright colors and rainbows and glitter.”
Piper now has a lasting legacy at the greenway along Drakes Creek. The formal dedication and ribbon-cutting was held Wednesday afternoon and brought community members to tears.
The ribbon cutting was held Wednesday afternoon bringing the community to tears.
“This community is very tight-knit — much more so than I ever knew,” Jon said. “I’ve got a lot of friends and support from everybody and support from people I don’t even know.”
The memorial was installed and paid for by Hendersonville’s Parks and Recreation team. Engraved on the bench is a quote picked out by Piper’s family: “A legacy of kindness that will never fade.”
“It is an honor for us as the city to be able to gift this to her family so that everybody can remember her forever at this point,” Parks and Rec director Andy Gilley said. “It’s a beautiful day and it kind of represents, to me, what her spirit was like from all who know her. [She was] one of the happiest kids that anybody would ever want to meet.”
Piper’s mother claimed in court to suffer from depression.
“It’s been a struggle — missing my family and everything, but all the support that’s come out is a silver lining to the tragedy.”
Jon said he visits the bench often and hopes others who pass by the bench will stop and think of Piper.
