Robert Maraj, the father of rapper Nicki Minaj, died on Saturday after being shot and escaped on Long Island, officials said.
Maraj was walking on the road near the intersection of Roslyn Road and Raff Avenue in Mineola, NY, at about 6:15 pm on Friday, when he was hit by a northbound vehicle that left the scene, the Police Department said. Nassau County a statement.
Maraj, 64, a resident of Mineola, was transported to a hospital in critical condition, police said, before being pronounced dead by a hospital doctor on Saturday.
The Nassau County Police Department said its Homicide Squad was investigating.
A representative of Ms. Minaj confirmed his death, but did not provide further details.
Minaj, whose parents moved from Trinidad to the United States, previously spoke about the use of crack and domestic violence in her childhood home in Jamaica, Queens, including an episode in which her father tried to burn her home.
In an interview with The New York Times in 2015, Ms. Minaj was asked if she was abused by her father.
“No. He was just abusive,” she said. “I always heard him screaming and cursing, always. And it made me feel like it was the way to interact, because that’s how I saw him interacting. ”