A man has been arrested for shooting his young pregnant neighbour in the head with a shotgun after the pair argued about her plants he had accidentally killed using ant poison.

Isael da Silva Matos, 43, is accused of killing Elis Naiara de Oliveira and her unborn baby by shooting the 22-year-old in the head with a shotgun in front of her two-year-old daughter.

The crime took place in a rural part of the Brazilian municipality of Tome-Acu on 25th April.

Following the crime, the suspect who is a father of three, fled on motorbike with the firearm and was later found at his home with his family.

The victim, who was seven months pregnant, lived with her mother and had left her house in search of a mobile phone signal when she was shot in the head, according to the police.

The victim and the suspect had argued days before the crime because the suspect had put down ant poison that had killed some of his neighbour’s plants.

The suspect was tracked down and arrested at his home, where he lived with his wife and three children, in the nearby municipality of Tailandia on 27th April.

Police said this was his main residence, but he had recently bought land in Tome-Acu next to the victim’s house and was visiting the property when the fatal shooting occurred.

He reportedly confessed to the crime, but told the police that the victim had threatened him, telling him she would “set fire” to his house “with his family and everything” inside.

He said he had also been threatened by the victim’s brother. He is currently in preventive custody in Tome-Acu where he awaits trial for homicide and foeticide.