Nicki Minaj Offers College Help to 14-Year-Old Who Killed Man to Defend Mom

Nicki Minaj is fully in the corner of the Chicago 14-year-old who shot and killed a man to protect his mom while she was being attacked, saying she's willing to help him go to college.

The rapper chimed in on the viral case, which has spurred a lot of conversation online over the past week or so. She took to IG to sound off, and it's clear she believes the 14-year-old and his mother did absolutely nothing wrong here ... even if it cost a life.

Nicki passionately writes, "That 14-year-old boy that backed dat hammer out when that grown ass man was punching his mother in the face as if she were a MAN; is a true hero."

She continues ... "If he wants to go to college, I'd love to help. It's what ANY son should've done for their MOTHER. She raised a dope kid & should be so proud. Also, God knew b4 she knew; that she'd be attacked that day & made sure they had protection on DECK."

NM finishes with a simple message, "God is GOOD." Now, as for her offer of assistance for higher education -- she didn't really elaborate ... but ya gotta figure she's talking about cash here. If the kid sees this, it'll be interesting to see if he takes her up on it.

As for the case itself ... it's a doozy. Carlishia Hood and her son were charged with first-degree murder after the teen shot and killed 32-year-old Jeremy Brown on June 18 at a restaurant ... this after an argument ensued inside, and Brown was filmed repeatedly punching Hood in the head.

Right as he's wailing on her, her son enters the restaurant from outside and opens fire on Brown. Cops say Brown then fled, but allege that Hood ordered her son to finish the job and continue shooting him outside ... which he then did. Brown died from gunshot wounds.

Amid a lot of uproar, Cook County prosecutors dropped all the charges against the mother and son ... saying they didn't have enough evidence to proceed with a prosecution. Since then, Hood has sued the City of Chicago and a few cops too ... claiming she was unjustly arrested/charged -- and that the whole ordeal has caused a lot of emotional distress.

Her legal team has been echoing what a lot of others have argued -- namely, that the use of deadly force here was justified and that Hood/her son were simply defending themselves.