Drena De Niro pays tribute to her son, Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, one year after his death.
Robert De Niro’s daughter paid a touching tribute to her late son on the first anniversary of his death on Instagram, with never-before-seen photos of Leandro and one of his graves.
She started the post with a photo of her son posing in a leather jacket and leather pants, arms wide open. In the next picture, Leandro was again wearing a leather jacket and white shirt while his head was turned to the side, his hair covering his face.
Drena, 52, then shared more recent photos, including lyrics from a song about the power of one’s presence in one’s life and a snap of visiting her son’s grave, which was decorated with several vases of flowers. She concluded the Instagram carousel with a picture of Leandro smiling.
“I KNEW this kid was stealing my clothes behind my back!!!”, Drena jokingly began her caption.
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Grave of Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez.
Drena De Niro/Instagram
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“Today we celebrated the sweet wild boy Leo 🖤”, she continued. “In your short time here, you have made the world a brighter place. You are deeply loved as the sun loves the moon and the moon loves the sea.”
Drena then continued to thank “everyone” who “held” her and her family [their] hands and hearts through the darkest days,” adding that he can “only hope they pay it forward.”
She concluded the post with the hashtag “#cantspelllovewithoutleo”.
Leandro’s father Carlos “Mare” Rodriguez also shared a post on Instagram mourning his son on the anniversary of his death. He simply posted a black photo with the words: “First year. Rest in peace Rest in me Leo. #youcantspelllovewithoutleo 🙏🕊️❤️💔.”
On his Instagram stories, Carlos shared that they made a cake in honor of his late son, which had the same sentence written on it. He also shared some throwback videos of Leandro dancing in the street when he was younger.
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A cake in honor of Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez on the anniversary of his death.
Carlos Mare/Instagram
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Drena first shared the news of the death of her son, who was 19, on July 2, 2023, writing on Instagram in part, “Rest in peace and eternal paradise my dear boy.”
Robert, 80, also shared his grief following his grandson’s death, saying in a statement to PEOPLE: “I am deeply saddened by the death of my beloved grandson Leo. We greatly appreciate everyone’s condolences. Please beg for your privacy to mourn our loss of Leo.”
A spokesperson for the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of public information told PEOPLE at the time that “the male was found unconscious, unresponsive and pronounced dead by EMS” after police called 911 at approximately 2:23 p.m. on July 2 in 2023
The following month, the New York City Medical Examiner’s office confirmed to PEOPLE that Leandro died of an accidental drug overdose, specifically “the toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine, and cocaine.”
“Someone sold him fentanyl pills that he knew were spiked but sold them anyway,” Drena wrote on Instagram days after Leandro’s death. “So to all these people still going around selling and buying this s—, my son is gone forever.”
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Source: HIS Education