Sam Amico
Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, the grandson of actor Robert De Niro, died after being sold pills laced with fentanyl, his mother, Drena De Niro said. Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez was just 19 years old.
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Drena De Niro and father Robert De Niro announced De Niro-Rodriguez’s death on Monday, but did not provide a cause.
De Niro-Rodriguez was an actor himself, appearing with his mother in A Star Is Born and Cabaret Maxime, both released in 2018.
Drena De Niro revealed her son’s death in a replay to a comment on Instagram.
“Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him,” Drena De Niro wrote.
She has mourned the death of her son in several posts.
“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 wrote in one post, where her comment about fentanyl appeared.
Robert De Niro has also come out with a statement, made to CBS.
“I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo,” he said. “We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone. We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that use of fentanyl is on the rise, and is sometimes found laced in other drugs. Its role in overdoses and deaths is also on the rise, the CDC added.
