De Niro's Daughter: Fentanyl Killed My Son

UPDATE Jul 7, 2023 5:46 AM CDT

Robert De Niro's eldest daughter says her son was killed by pills laced with fentanyl. In a comment on an Instagram post, Drena De Niro blamed drug dealers for the death of 19-year-old Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, NBC reports. "Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him," she wrote. "So for all these people still f------ around selling and buying this s---, my son is gone forever." A New York City Police Department spokesperson tells CBS that officers responding to a 911 call Sunday afternoon found an unresponsive man in an apartment in lower Manhattan. The spokesperson said the office of the chief medical examiner will determine a cause of death.

Jul 3, 2023 12:29 PM CDT

A tragedy in the De Niro family: Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, grandson of Robert De Niro, has died. He was 19 years old. De Niro-Rodriguez, like his grandfather, was an actor. His film credits include 2018's A Star Is Born, in which he appears with mother Drena De Niro, CNN reports. She paid tribute to her "beautiful sweet angel" in an Instagram post Sunday. "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," she wrote. "You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you." In a statement, Robert De Niro said he was "deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson."

No cause of death has been disclosed, but law enforcement sources tell TMZ that De Niro-Rodriguez was found dead in an apartment in New York City and an overdose is suspected. When Robert De Niro married Diahnne Abbott in 1976, he adopted Drena, her daughter from a previous marriage. Friends who offered messages of condolence Sunday included Naomi Campell, Deadline reports. "Drena heartbroken for you, such a duo, I can't imagine how you must feel, may the lord cover you and hold you in his arms, at this very sad time and loss," she wrote. (More Robert De Niro stories.)