RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A Brazilian burglar killed a 7-month-old boy by slashing his throat on Wednesday after holding him hostage with a kitchen knife for four hours. The burglar burst into the home at dawn and grabbed the baby from his crib after running from a separate robbery that went awry, police said. "He wouldn't let anyone near him, then he just cut his throat," said a police spokesman in the town of Itaborai. Esmeraldo Paez, 40, gave then himself up and was promptly beaten by a crowd. Officers took him into custody and charged him with murdering Mateo do Nascimento while family members, police and a priest tried to negotiate a bloodless end to the ordeal. Paez, who reportedly had been unemployed for eight months, broke into the home while trying to evade capture after being discovered burglarizing a neighboring house. "He took a knife from the kitchen and picked the baby right out of his crib. The mother and four children were there but couldn't do anything," the police spokesman said.