Entertainment
Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro ‘killed by addiction’ at 19, grieving mum says-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
She pleaded with people to stop ‘blaming the addict’.
Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez’s mother has pleaded with people not to judge people struggling with drug addiction following the death of her son (Picture: Instagram)
Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez died after a drug addiction ‘took over,’ his mother has warned.
De Niro-Rodriguez was just 19 when he died in July of an accidental drug overdose.
Autopsy results released on Tuesday revealed he died from the toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine, and cocaine, according to TMZ.
De Niro-Rodriguez was the only child of Drena De Niro, herself the oldest of actor De Niro’s seven children.
Now the teenager’s mother Drena, 51, has taken to Instagram to warn other parents, saying her son had ‘suffered tremendously through the pandemic as maybe many of your kids had.’
‘Sadly addiction took over in the last year and eventually killed him.’
The 19-year-old died of an accidental drug overdose after ‘struggling’ during the pandemic (Picture: Leandro De Niro Rodriguez)
She said she was speaking out because the circumstances surrounding her son’s death had ‘taken on a narrative and lie of its own,’ thanks in parts to ‘vicious, inaccurate’ rumours as well as ‘trolling’.
De Niro went on to reveal that people were putting ‘the blame on my son for using the drugs, to me as his mother for being hurt, shocked and angry at the sudden loss of my only child, and even on his grandfather.’
She pleaded with people to stop ‘blaming the addict and person suffering mental illness,’ adding ‘we are all human beings in the end.’
De Niro-Rodriguez i the grandson of actor Robert De Niro and the only child of Drena (Picture: Instagram)
Her son was not aware that what he would be taking was laced with fentanyl, she claimed, but ‘rather than focusing on the menu of substances in his system when he died’ people should ‘focus on how to really help haltthis epidemic that is unfolding right under our noses.’
‘My heart, prayers and alliance is with anyone who is suffering the loss of their child or loved one to this nightmare of addiction and fentanyl overdose or suicide,’ she went on.
She hoped that his death might ‘bring attention to a much bigger problem and to all the other beautiful young lives that are being snuffed out way too soon and senselessly.’
His mother is only hoping his tragic death will shine a light on the ‘epidemic’ of drug addiction (Picture: Warner Bros)
De Niro-Rodriguez was found unconscious inside a home in New York on July 2, with NYPD sources telling E! News at the time that he was pronounced dead at the scene.
It was later reported that 20-year-old Sofia Haley Marks had been taken into custody over his death over ‘federal drug distribution charges.’
Actor De Niro, who adopted Drena during his marriage to Diagne Abbott, is joining the family in grieving his grandchild, telling Metro.co.uk in a statement he was ‘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.’
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