(CNN) — Drena De Niro shared the cause of death for her 19-year-old son. Leandro De Niro Rodríguez, the grandson of Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro, recently died after ingesting fentanyl, his mother wrote on social media.
“It is with immeasurable shock and sadness that we say goodbye to our beloved son Leo,” Drena De Niro posted Monday in a statement on her verified social media. “We thank you for the outpouring of love and support and ask that we be given privacy at this time to process this inconsolable pain.”
In comments to that post, a follower asked how the teen actor died and why.
“Someone sold him fentanyl pills that they knew were laced and they still sold them so to all these people who keep fucking buying and selling this shit my son is gone forever,” De Niro wrote in response.
Nearly 70,000 people in the US died from drug overdoses involving fentanyl in 2021, a nearly four-fold increase in five years, according to a recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of 2021, approximately two-thirds of all overdose deaths involved the powerful synthetic opioid.
Drena De Niro at the Chanel Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner in June in New York. (Nina Westervelt/Variety/Getty Images)
Drena De Niro had announced the death of her son in an Instagram post this Sunday.
“You have been my joy, my heart and everything that was pure and real in my life,” the caption read in part. “I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to carry on and spread the love and light that you made me feel so much by becoming your mom. You were so deeply loved and cherished and I wish that only love could have saved you.”
Actress, De Niro is the daughter of the legendary actor, who also expressed his grief over the loss.
“I am deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo,” Robert De Niro said in a statement to CNN. “We are very grateful for everyone’s condolences. We ask that we be given privacy to mourn the loss of Leo.”
Leandro De Niro Rodríguez had appeared, along with his mother, in the 2018 film “A Star Is Born”, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. His other acting credits include “Cabaret Maxime” in 2018 and “The Collection” in 2005, according to IMdB.
