Drena De Niro recalled holding her son, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, “for the last time” in a heartbreaking post penned days after his death.
“I can barely type through my tears but all the love, the messages, calls, texts, emails, the friends and family that held me up these last 24 hrs I’ve not been able to respond yet but we’re grateful for the all your love and condolences,” Drena shared on Instagram.
“None of this is right or fair and my heart hurts in a way I never knew possible while still breathing and barely functioning. Leo my darling I love you today like the first day I held you in my arms.”
Leandro, Robert De Niro’s grandson, reportedly died on Sunday in New York. He was 19.
ROBERT DE NIRO ‘DEEPLY DISTRESSED’ BY DEATH OF 19-YEAR-OLD GRANDSON
Robert De Niros daughter Drena shared a tragic tribute to her late son, Leandro, who died in New York. (Dimitrios Kambouris)
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“I’m 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,” the Academy award-winning actor said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
Drena added on social media, “The same man that picked us up from the hospital when you were born drove us to the funeral home where I touched and held you for the last time.
“You were kindness acceptance and love and I can’t believe any of this is real YOU made everything bearable and every burden lighter. You didn’t deserve to die like this but I can only believe that God needed a strong powerful angel in their army.”
She wrote, “I’m holding you every second of every moment I’m 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.”
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Drena De Niro, 51, is also an actress and filmmaker. (Nina Westervelt)
Drena announced Leandro’s death on Instagram Monday.
“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,” she wrote. “You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you.”
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The Associated Press reported New York City police were investigating “an 18-year-old male was found unconscious, unresponsive and was pronounced deceased by EMS on scene” at a Wall Street address that houses the Cipriani Club Residences.
De Niro adopted Drena when he was married to her mother, Diahnne Abbott, (Frank Trapper/Corbis)
A cause of death is still pending.
Drena, 51, is the daughter of Diahnne Abbott. De Niro adopted Drena when he and Diahnne married in 1976. They divorced 12 years later in 1988.
Drena, an actress and filmmaker, worked alongside her son in multiple projects, including “A Star is Born.”
De Niro, 79, recently welcomed his seventh child with Tiffany Chen, 45.
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