The 64-year-old father of the rapper Nicki Minaj has died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, police have confirmed.

Robert Maraj was walking along a road in Mineola on Long Island at 6.15pm on Friday when he was hit by a car that didn't stop, Nassau county police said. The case is currently being investigated by the Homicide squad.

Maraj was taken to a New York hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Saturday.

38-year-old Nicki Minaj was born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad and was raised in the New York City borough of Queens. The tragic death of her father comes just a few months after she gave birth to her first child with husband Kenneth Perry.

The Starships rapper has yet to make any public statement about her father’s death. Minaj became the first woman to make 100 appearances in the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018.

Image credit: Angela Weiss.