Holywood actor, Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was found dead on Sunday afternoon, July 2, with a white powdery substance on a plate near his body.
Leandro, 19, was the son of De Niro’s adopted daughter Drena, 51, and artist Carlos Rodriguez. On Sunday, Drena announced his death on Instagram, saying: ‘I wish that love alone could have saved you.’
The teenager was found dead sitting in a chair in a $950,000, one-bedroom apartment in the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street.
A police source tells DailyMail.com the substance was found near his body and there were no signs of trauma. He was found by a friend who hadn’t heard from him in a few days and was checking in on him, a police source told TMZ.
Aspiring actor and director Leandro was following in his mother and grandfather’s career footsteps, landed a small role in 2018’s A Star Is Born as the son of Bradley Cooper’s best friend, George ‘Noodles’ Stone, played by Dave Chappelle. He also appeared in Cabaret Maxime in 2018.
Both of his parents paid tribute to him on Instagram on Sunday night.
His father, Carlos, said in a post: ‘Words aren’t enough to express the joy he gave us or the loss we now endure with our families and friends. He is God’s child now. On this full moon his spirit luminates what could not be seen in the dark.’
Drena’s post began: ‘My beautiful sweet angel. I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly.
‘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.’
Drena continued: ‘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. I’m so sorry my baby, I’m so sorry @carlosmare. Rest in Peace and Eternal Paradise my darling boy.’
Leandro’s father added in his own comment: ‘Words aren’t enough to express the joy he gave us or the loss we now endure with our families and friends.
‘He is God’s child now. On this full moon his spirit luminates what could not be seen in the dark.
‘You can’t spell LOVE without LEO.’
His mother Drena was adopted by De Niro, and took his surname, after the actor married her mother, Diahnne Abbott, in 1976.
