Robert De Niro’s grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, has died. He was 19.
In a post shared to Instagram, Leandro’s mother, Drena De Niro, shared a tribute message to her late son.
“My beautiful sweet angel. I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly,” Drena, whose mother Diahnne Abbott was married to Robert in 1976, said. “You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life . I wish I was with you right now. I wish I was with you . 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.”
Drena, 51, was adopted by Robert when the actor married her mother. Diahnne and Robert, who also had a son together, later divorced in 1988.
When sharing her tribute to Leandro, Drena also tagged the 19-year-old actor's father, artist Carlos Mare, in the post.
“Rest In Peace and Eternal Paradise my darling boy,” she added.
“My dear Drena… words aren’t enough to express the joy he gave us or the loss we now endure with our families and friends,” Carlos said in a comment on Drena's original post. “He is Godschild now. … On this full moon his spirit luminates what could not be seen in the dark. You can’t spell LOVE without LEO.”
At the time of this writing, additional information had not been publicly released. According to a report from TMZ, Leandro was found dead in an apartment in New York City on Sunday.
Among Leandro’s credits as an actor was a part alongside his mother in Bradley Cooper’s 2018 take on A Star Is Born, co-starring Lady Gaga.
Rest in peace.
