Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, a grandson of Robert De Niro, passed away at age 19, his mother, Drena De Niro, announced on Monday in an Instagram post. After sharing the news of her son's sudden passing, Drena, took to the comments section to reveal the cause of death.
"Someone sold him fentanyl-laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him," Drena wrote.
She added, "So for all these people still f–king around selling and buying this s–t, my son is gone forever."
Leandro was found unconscious and unresponsive inside a New York City residence on Sunday, July 2, a spokesperson for the NYPD shared with E! News. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Drena shared a photo of her boy and penned a note that read, "I don’t know how to live without you but I’ll try to go on and spread the love and light that you so made me feel in getting to be your mama."
"You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you," she added.
Drena De Niro shared Leandro with artist Carlos Mare, who also penned a note of love to his late son.
"I'm deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo. We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone. We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo," Robert De Niro said in a statement.
Further details were not immediately available. Later Monday, De Niro's publicist shared another statement from Drena De Niro.
"It is with immeasurable shock and sadness that we say goodbye to our beloved son Leo. We thank you for the outpouring of love and support and ask that we are given privacy at this time to process this inconsolable grief," she said in the statement.
In response to a request to confirm a TMZ report that Leandro was found in a New York apartment, New York City police wrote that “an 18-year-old male was found unconscious, unresponsive and was pronounced deceased by EMS on scene” at a Wall Street address that houses the Cipriani Club Residences.
Leandro only recently turned 19, news outlets report.
Drena, is the oldest of Robert De Niro's now seven children (the 79-year-old welcomed a baby earlier this year). The actor adopted her when he married her mother, Diahnne Abbott, his first wife. Drena is also an actor, with roles in “Joy,” “The Intern” and “Mozart in the Jungle,” among a long list of credits.
Leandro also had acting credits to his name, with roles in three projects also featuring his mother: 2005's “The Collection,” and 2018's “Cabaret Maxime” and “A Star Is Born.” In Bradley Cooper's remake, the mother and son played mother and son — wife and child to Dave Chappelle's character.
