An 11-year-old boy, whose face was painted for Halloween when he was arrested last week on a murder charge, will be tried as an adult and faces a possible life sentence, prosecutors said Monday.

Nathaniel Jamar Abraham is charged with first-degree murder, accused of firing his rifle from a hill Wednesday, killing a stranger walking out of a convenience store and just missing his neighbor.

“I’ve never seen someone this young be this cold, this violent,” Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor James Halushka said.

Trying Nathaniel as an adult could bring a possible life sentence if he is convicted, but a trial judge could opt to sentence the boy as a juvenile, in which case he could not be held beyond age 21.

Prosecutors say his size belies his violent behavior, which includes pulling a gun on fellow elementary school pupils, beating an older boy with a pipe, arson and burglary. Earlier this fall his mother told authorities she needed help managing him and wanted the court to declare him incorrigible.