Nicki Minaj's father killed by hit-and-run driver, police say
The 64-year-old father of rapper Nicki Minaj has died after being struck by a hit-and-run motorist in New York, police said.
Robert Maraj was crossing the street in the village of Mineola on Long Island on Friday at 6:15 p.m. when he was hit by an "undescribed" vehicle that left the scene, according to a statement from the Nassau County Police Department.
Maraj, who lived in Mineola, was transported to a local hospital in critical condition on Friday night. He succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by a hospital physician on Saturday, police said.
The Nassau County Police Department's Homicide Squad is investigating the fatal incident. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Minaj has not yet made any public statement about her father’s death. ABC News has reached out to Minaj’s representatives for comment.
The 38-year-old rapper, whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj, was born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. Minaj's parents moved to the United States before she joined them there a couple years later at the age of 5. She was raised in the New York City borough of Queens.
In a 2012 interview with ABC News' Juju Chang that aired on "Nightline," Minaj spoke about her difficult upbringing in a rough neighborhood and her complicated relationship with her father, who she said was addicted to crack cocaine.
"It was so devastating because it's like losing -- it's like someone dying," Minaj said of her father's addiction.
Minaj said she witnessed "a lot" of violence as a child and that her father was "abusive" toward her mother.
"It would be like a real bad outburst and we were afraid for her life because whenever he would have a real bad outburst, he would threaten to kill her," she said.
When asked how she felt toward her father as a child, Minaj said she was "angry" and that she "wanted to kill him." She said she created alter egos in order to cope, which she has put on display in her hip-hop music.
Minaj's father told ABC News at the time that he has been clean and sober for years.
ABC News' Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
