By WES PARNELL and PETER SBLENDORIO—NEW YORK DAILY —
The father of hip-hop superstar Nicki Minaj died Saturday after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on Long Island.
Robert Maraj was “walking in the roadway” on Roslyn Road at Raff Ave. in Mineola when an unidentified car plowed into him at 6:15 p.m. Friday and fled the scene, Nassau County Police said Sunday.
Maraj, 64, was hospitalized and succumbed to his injuries the next day.
Nassau County Police were still looking for the driver Sunday night, and haven’t released any information about the suspect or a description of the vehicle.
Detectives are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS.
Maraj’s daughter, who was born Onika Maraj and is known for hits such as “Super Bass” and “Starships,” has not publicly commented on his death.
Minaj has spoken out about her fraught relationship with her father over the years.
In a 2012 “Nightline” appearance, she discussed his drug and alcohol abuse, telling an interviewer, “My father was abusive. … We were afraid for [my mother’s] life because whenever he would have a real bad outburst, he would threaten to kill her.”
Minaj later told The New York Times he didn’t abuse her, but that he was abusive.
“I would always hear him yelling and cursing, always. And it made me feel it was the way to interact, because that’s how I saw him interacting,” she told the paper in 2015.
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