Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, the grandson of two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro, has died at the age of 19.
Actor Drena De Niro, Leandro’s mother and eldest daughter of Robert, announced the tragic news in an emotional post on Instagram Sunday, per multiple media outlets.
“My beautiful sweet angel,” she captioned an image of her son, whom she appeared with in the 2018 film “A Star Is Born.”
“I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly,” she said. “You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life. I wish I was with you right now. I wish I was with you.”
“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,” Drena De Niro added. “You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you.”
She tagged Leandro’s father, the artist Carlos Mare, and wrote: “I’m so sorry.”
Mare commented on the post: “My dear Drena… words aren’t enough to express the joy he gave us or the loss we now endure with our families and friends. He is Godschild now.”
“On this full moon his spirit luminates what could not be seen in the dark,” he added. “You can’t spell LOVE without LEO.”
On his own Instagram feed, Mare shared a blacked-out image.
Drena De Niro, who is Robert De Niro’s eldest daughter from his first marriage, to Diahnne Abbott, did not mention a cause of death.
Robert De Niro has not yet commented. The 79-year-old became a father for the seventh time in the spring.
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