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Police say Nicki Minaj’s father killed by hit-and-run driver

FILE - Nicki Minaj presents the award for favorite duo or group - pop/rock at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, in this Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, file photo. The 64-year-old father of rapper Nicki Minaj has died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in New York, police said. Robert Maraj was walking along a road in Mineola on Long Island at 6:15 p.m. Friday when he was hit by a car that kept going, Nassau County police said. Maraj was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, FIle)

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — The 64-year-old father of rapper Nicki Minaj has died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in New York, police said.

Robert Maraj was walking along a road in Mineola on Long Island at 6:15 p.m. Friday when he was hit by a car that kept going, Nassau County police said. Maraj was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday.


Police are asking any witnesses to the fatal crash to come forward.

Minaj, 38, was born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad and was raised in the New York City borough of Queens. She has not made any public statement about her father’s death.

An email seeking comment was sent to a representative for Minaj.