WASHINGTON — Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, a grandson of Robert De Niro, died at the age of 19 after buying fentanyl laced pills, according to his mother.
His mother, Drena De Niro, shared details on her son's apparent cause of death while responding to an Instagram comment from someone asking what happened to the teen actor.
"Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him...my son is gone forever," Drena De Niro said in her response.
Drena De Niro shared Leandro with artist Carlos Mare, who posted black squares sans caption on his Instagram accounts.
“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.
De Niro's publicist shared another statement from Drena De Niro.
“It is with immeasurable shock and 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 De Niro, 51, is the oldest of Robert De Niro's 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 De Niro 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.
In 2021, more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses — the highest tally in U.S. history.
