This is the brutal moment a dad-of-two desperate to sell his convenience store because of rising crime is shot dead by a thief for a carton of cigarettes.

Victim Eduardo da Silva Soares, 54, had already moved his family out of Sao Joao de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, because he feared for their safety.

But shocking security CCTV footage from his store on 18th May shows how he was shot in the head at point-blank range during a robbery worth just GBP 3.

Terrified Eduardo is backed up against a wall by a gunman after his store's takings.

But after pistol-whipping him viciously he fires a single round into the shopkeeper's head and he falls to the ground.

The crook, later identified as Luan Marinho da Silva, tries to break open the till but cannot get in and snatches up what appears to be a carton of 100 cigarettes.

Then he runs back to Eduardo's body and searches him for his keys but still cannot get into the till as the clip ends.

The thief reportedly fled on an accomplice's motorbike with only the cigarettes he took from under the counter.

Eduardo's brother Roberto Soares later said: "He had already bought a house in Araruama and his wife was already living there with the children.

"But because they needed to eat he had to work. So he stayed here while his wife lived with their children.

"I feel pain, ranger and sadness all mixed together. When you lose a relative to an illness, you prepare for it.

"But on Saturday night I was with him. Then on Sunday I went for a walk and I get this news."

Police used the CCTV footage to track down 31-year-old da Marinho da Silva, who is now facing a murder charge.

(MJ Leidig/newsX)