Prosecutors Want Nicki Minaj’s Brother DNA Tested In Child Rape Case
BOSSIP Exclusive: Prosecutors Want Nicki Minaj’s Brother DNA Tested In Child Rape Case
Prosecutors Found Semen On Tween Accuser’s Clothing
Prosecutors in Nicki Minaj brother’s child rape case are seeking a court order to force him to take a DNA test to see if it matches DNA from semen found on his alleged victim’s clothes.
Officials from the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office revealed in court papers that they recovered semen from Jelani Maraj’s 12-year-old accuser’s pants, and want a judge to make Maraj take a DNA swab test to see if there’s a match.
Maraj’s alleged victim told cops he’d raped and sodomized her from April through November 30, 2015, with the last rape happening the day before he was arrested. Cops executed a search warrant the following day and found the girl’s pants with a semen stain on them from an unknown male. The county Medical Examiner’s Office analyzed the DNA from the semen, and found that only one man in 291 billion could be a match.
“Thus, a genetic profile developed from a buccal swab specimen from the defendant, Jelani Maraj, will exclude or provide material evidence identifying the defendant, Jelani Maraj, as the source of the semen stain on the victim’s (clothing),” Assistant District Attorney Anthony Perri wrote in court docs last week.
The District Attorney’s Office also asked a judge for permission to photograph and fingerprint Maraj, Nicki Minaj’s oldest brother and her employee.
A grand jury last month indicted Maraj on felony child rape charges, including predatory sexual assault against a child and first degree sexual conduct against a child. If convicted, Maraj faces up to life in prison on the top charge.
He pled not guilty at his arraignment April 19.
A judge has yet to rule on the DNA test, and Maraj and his lawyers will be in court next week to try to prove to the judge why he shouldn’t have to take the DNA test.
Maraj’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment Monday, and he’d not yet officially responded to the District Attorney’s DNA request.
