Silica was bait, plain and simple; he helped her out because she reminded him of his sistercousin; first and foremost he decided to use her dead pet as a means to get what he wanted.
Or in other words he was nice to her to make himself feel better.
The equipment he gave her was trash for someone his level and he's probably rolling in money anyway; aside from not wanting it for his own feel-good selfish reasons, he simply didn't need her "pocketchange".