Nicki Minaj’s Father Killed by Hit-And-Run Driver in New York

Nicki Minaj at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. — Photo by PopularImages

Nicki Minaj’s father was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver on Long Island, New York, and succumbed to his injuries over the weekend.

An “undescribed” vehicle struck Robert Maraj, 64, on Friday at 6:15 p.m. in the village of Mineola on Long Island, the Nassau County Police Department confirmed to ABC News.

Maraj was transported to an area hospital, and pronounced dead by a physician the next day due to the extent of his injuries, police said. The Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad is investigating the case and urged anyone with information to contact them.

Nicki Minaj, real name Onika Maraj, had not issued a public statement on her father’s death at the time of publication.

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The “Anaconda” rapper spoke candidly about her family’s struggles in a 2012 interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang on Nightline.

“It was so devastating because it’s like losing — it’s like someone dying,” Minaj said of her father’s addiction to crack cocaine. The rapper said at the time Robert had been clean and sober for years.

The hip-hop star, 38, was born in Trinidad and Tobago. In another interview, she told the Guardian her father tried to burn down one of the homes they lived in and that he was “an alcoholic and a drug addict.” Her father denied his daughter’s claims to the news outlet.

On her 2008 mixtape “Sucka Free,” the “Super Bass” artist wrote about her rocky childhood in the song “Autobiography.”