Slain Weymouth Police Sergeant's Mortgage Paid Off

WEYMOUTH, MA – Following the killing of Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna, Tunnel to Towers Foundation chairman and CEO Frank Siller vowed to pay off the mortgage on his family's home. The foundation made good on that promise Thursday, announcing it received enough donations to pay off the mortgage on the Hanover home.

The foundation donated the initial $100,000 and said it received generous donations from local businesses like PECO Real Estate Partners, which owns the Hanover Mall, the City of Boston Credit Union and Boston's Run to Remember. Donors from around the world, including all 50 states, Costa Rica, Israel, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Canada, contributed to the campaign, according to the foundation.

"I just want to thank the community for everything they’ve done for my family and my children," Chesna's widow, Cindy, said at an announcement ceremony held by Tunnel To Towers Thursday.

Officer Michael Chesna was shot and killed July 15 while responding to a report of an erratic driver in Weymouth. The suspect in his killing, 20-year-old Emanuel Lopes, threw a rock at Chesna, took his gun and fired 10 rounds at Chesna, police said. Lopes is also accused of killing a bystander, 77-year-old Vera Adams.

The Weymouth Police Department posthumously promoted Chesna to sergeant.

"We can’t change what has been done, but we can make it better by coming together to lift the families up," Siller said.

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation's Fallen First Responder Home Program pays off the mortgages of families of a firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duty. It has given $7 million to 27 families since 2015.

Image via Weymouth Police Department