Robert Miraj, the father of rap icon Nicki Minaj, has died at 64.
What We Know:
- Last Friday at around 6:15 pm, Robert Miraj was walking on a road in Mineola in Long Island, New York, where he was struck by a vehicle heading northbound on Roslyn Road at the intersection with Raff Avenue in a hit-and-run accident. He was taken to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Miraj was pronounced dead on Saturday.
- Nicki Minaj, whose birth name is Onika Tanya Maraj, was born in Trinidad and raised in Queens in New York City. In multiple media interviews, Minaj details the rocky relationship she had growing up and living with her father. In 2010, she told Details Magazine about her father’s use of crack cocaine and the abusive relationship he had with her mother. “He drank a lot and did drugs, and he would get violent when he did. When he set fire to the house, he was attempting to kill my mother,” she told the outlet. It was unclear if the two were on good terms at the time of his death.
- The death of Robert Miraj comes just a year after Nicki Minaj’s brother, 41-year-old Jelani Maraj, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for raping an 11-year-old child.
- As of now, the incident remains under investigation. According to NBC News, Nassau County police are asking witnesses to come forward to help identify the driver who fled the scene. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
Nicki Minaj has not released a public statement regarding her father’s death.
