Robert De Niro’s grief-stricken daughter has said she will remember her tragic son from their days enjoying summer holidays together.
Robert De Niro’s grief-stricken daughter has said she will remember her tragic son from their days enjoying summer holidays together
Actress Drena De Niro, 55, announced on Sunday (02.07.23) online her boy Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, 19, had died, and has continued her stream of online tributes to her son by sharing an image of them splashing in the sea together when he was a youngster.
The devastated mum captioned the image: “Where it’s always Summertime.”
She signed off the message with praying hands, a heart and sea emojis.
The image appears to have come from one of her friends who has the handle @trailer518 on Instagram.
They posted the message against one of the same photos of Drena and Leandro in the sea: “My two beautiful friends. Leo you were a joy. You got my jokes at 6 years old. You loved my boys.
“They threw you in the pool off their shoulders and you were brave and just joined in. When we dressed you up as the leprechaun as all the big kids did it you couldn’t stop smiling and hamming it up.
“Everyone loved you adults and kids alike. Smart as a whip. Sassy as your mother, quiet and thoughtful as your father.
“We are devastated. We will miss you my darling sweet boy…angel wings were made especially for you Leo.”
Earlier this week Drena posted a black-and-white photo of her rising acting star son on her Instagram – and said the “same man” who picked her up from the hospital when he was born also drove them to the funeral home “where I touched and held you for the last time”.
Drena, the eldest of ‘Raging Bull’ actor Robert’s seven children, said about her grief: “None of this is right or fair and my heart hurts in a way I never knew possible while still breathing and barely functioning.
“You were kindness acceptance and love and I can’t believe any of this is real YOU made everything bearable and every burden lighter.”
Drena has not shared Leandro’s cause of death and added her late son “didn’t deserve to die like this”.
She also said she was trying to find comfort in believing “God needed a strong powerful angel in their army”.
Drena added: “I’m holding you every second of every moment in my heart and memories until I’m with you again.
“My heart is broken forever. Me daddy and your family love you, I love I love you with every beat of my crying heart.”
Leandro was found lifeless at a $950,000, one-bedroom apartment in the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street.
TMZ has reported his death is being investigated as a possible drugs overdose, while the Daily Mail said he was found sitting on a chair with a white powdery substance on a plate near his body.
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