Danbury Kia covers car lease payment of Bethel woman killed in Bridgeport

An undated photograph of Emily Todd. An undated photograph of Emily Todd. Photo: Photo Courtesy Of Todd Family / Contributed Photo Photo: Photo Courtesy Of Todd Family / Contributed Photo Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Danbury Kia covers car lease payment of Bethel woman killed in Bridgeport 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

BETHEL — After Emily Todd was killed in Bridgeport, her family did not want to look at the car police said the murder suspect stole.

But there were still two years remaining on the 25-year-old woman’s lease, and her family thought they would have to pay it off.

Yet, thanks to Danbury Kia, the family will not have to see the car again. Nor, will the family pay for it.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” said Sal Sinardi, general sales manager, who handled the dealership’s payment of the lease. “I didn’t give it much thought.”

Greg Henry, Todd’s uncle who shared the story in a Bethel Facebook group, said he and a friend took the car to Danbury Kia on Tuesday, with little hope the family could break the lease.

He met with Sinardi and explained the situation.

“Within minutes, Mr. Sinardi was overcome with emotion,” Henry wrote on the Facebook page. “It was all over his face.”

Sinardi said all he could think of was his 21-year-old daughter, who goes to school in Florida, and how he could not imagine losing her.

“I was heartbroken,” he said. “I could see the pain on their faces.”

He said he knew he couldn’t allow Henry to take the car home.

Sinardi checked out the car for damage and for how many miles it had. He then went back to his computer and finalized the almost $16,900 payment.

“We’ll take a small loss, but it's whatever,” Sinardi said.

When Sinardi told him the dealership bought the car, Henry was in shock.

“He started to tear up, which made us all tear up a little bit,” Sinardi said. “He literally said he felt like he went numb.”

In the Facebook post, Henry described “goosebumps, a hot flash and tears.”

“My friend and I just stared at each other unable to get a word out for what seemed an eternity,” he wrote. “This was contrary to what I was prepared for. In my mind I had gone over the conversation(s) that I was planning on having in hopes that someone would work out some way to lessen the blow to (my sister) Jenn and (brother-in-law) Tommy.”

Henry could not be reached for further comment Thursday.

Todd was found shot to death near the boat ramp on Seaview Avenue in Bridgeport on Dec. 9. Police have said Brandon Roberts, 26, confessed to killing her, as well as shooting another woman in Washington Park in 2017.

Todd, who graduated from Bethel High School in 2011 and worked on the memory care unit at Saint John Paul II Center, has been described as generous and caring.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to benefit her family. The community can also donated to the Avielle Foundation in Todd’s name.

Sinardi said the dealership will fix some of the damage to the car caused by the murder suspect and then sell it or send it to an auction.

Sinardi has two sons who work at Danbury Kia with him.

“Hopefully they see this as an example of doing the right thing,” he said.

After Henry posted the story to the Facebook page, Sinardi’s inbox was flooded with emails from people thanking him for his kindness.

“I’ve been completely blown away,” Sinardi said. “To me it was the smallest, little thing I could have done.”