Carol Maraj - the widowed mother of chart-topping rapper Nicki Minaj - has filed a $150 million lawsuit against the driver charged with killing her husband last month.
As reported by PageSix, on February 12, 64-year-old Robert Maraj was struck down while walking across the street in Mineola, New York.
The driver of the car, 70-year-old Charles Polevich, reportedly exited the vehicle and asked if the rapper's father was okay, but prosecutors claim that he then drove away without offering aid or alerting authorities.
The Independent reports that investigators say that Polevich attempted to keep his car "out of view" by parking it in a detached garage.
Polevich later handed himself in to the police after detectives successfully used surveillance footage to track his 1992 Volvo back to his Mineola residence.
He has since been charged with leaving the scene of an incident causing death and with tampering with physical evidence.
Now, the 70-year-old is facing a $150 million lawsuit, filed by Robert Maraj's widow, Carol.
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represents the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the rapper's mom in the Supreme Court of New York.
Taking to Instagram to further elaborate on the legal pursuit, Crump wrote: "Paul Napoli and I have filed a $150 million lawsuit in the hit-and-run death of Robert Maraj, @nickiminaj's father.
"[Robert Maraj] was fatally injured in a hit-and-run accident on February 12, 2021, when he was struck by a car being driven by Charles Polevich as Mr. Maraj walked along a Long Island road. After striking Maraj, Polevich left the accident scene and did not call for emergency services or render aid to Maraj.
"[Polevich] was not only irresponsible and negligent, but more concerned about running away and hiding than seeking help.
"Polevich's behavior was criminal, cowardly, and immoral. We will hold him responsible for his reckless actions that led to Robert Maraj's death!"
Marc Gann - the attorney representing Polevich - has since told Law&Crime that an insurance company will be taking care of the civil matter. Gann declined to comment on the case.
Additionally, Gann stated that his client had a "tremendous amount of empathy for the family, the loss that they’ve suffered, and expressed condolences."
Nicki Minaj - real name Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty - was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, before being raised in the Queens borough of New York.
